Continuing their pursuit of tax fraud, Franchise Tax Board (FTB) investigators arrested a Southern California woman today and charged her with tax fraud, according to the FTB.
Sylvia Chabre Christopher, 36, of Moreno Valley, was arrested at San
Bernardino Superior Court. Christopher faces felony counts including filing
a false 2001 state income tax return and grand theft in connection with
a fraudulent tax refund. Each felony tax count carries a maximum of three
years in state prison.
Christopher is charged with using a false W-2 to obtain a fraudulent state
income tax refund of $2,329 on her 2001 income tax return. Three San Bernardino
County residents have already received jail time this month for receiving
fraudulent state income tax refunds using false W-2s. These cases are
unrelated, but point to FTB’s commitment to detect tax fraud.
The tax refund fraud was discovered by FTB’s internal fraud detection process. The FTB analyzes tax return and taxpayer data to identify refund abuse and fraudulent schemes. FTB’s investigators review these cases and refer them for prosecution.
This case points to FTB’s ongoing effort to reduce the estimated $6.5 billion annual tax gap in California. The tax gap is the difference between what taxes are owed and what taxes are actually paid.
Christopher was transported to the West Valley detention center in Rancho
Cucamonga. Bail is set at $80,000. Arraignment is scheduled for later
this week.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting
the case.