By: Richard L Smith
A Bergen County woman has been sentenced to three years in prison for tax evasion and preparing fraudulent tax returns for her clients, according to information released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Joshlyn Raye, 49, of Elmwood Park, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court to charges including tax evasion, aiding in the preparation of false tax returns, and filing a false declaration under penalty of perjury.
Prosecutors said that between March 2010 and September 2023, Raye operated JB Tax Services in Hackensack.
Over that time, a federal official said she evaded paying her own income taxes, filed 177 false tax returns for clients, and submitted three fraudulent quarterly employment tax returns for her business.
Investigators said Raye manipulated expenses and deductions to inflate refunds.
Along with her 36-month prison sentence, Judge Salas ordered Raye to serve three years of supervised release and pay over $1.1 million in restitution.