UPDATED Wednesday, November 9, 2011 --- 4:04 p.m.

Press Release from the Department of Justice:

MADISON — Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today that Town of Benton resident Kathy Richard was sentenced by Judge Thomas J. Vale on charges of fraudulent claims for tax credit. Richard was sentenced to 60 days of incarceration in the Lafayette County Jail and three years of probation with restitution.

According to the criminal complaint, Ms. Richard submitted fraudulent Earned Income Tax Credit Claims to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue for 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. In each of the claims, Ms. Richard claimed to own and operate a fictitious daycare business. She obtained $7,979.00 by defrauding the State Department of Revenue. She also obtained $12,165.00 by filing similar claims with the federal government.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Eric D. Défort. The case was investigated by Wisconsin Department of Justice - Division of Criminal Investigation, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and the United States Office of the Inspector General.

____________________________________

Posted Wednesday, November 9, 2011 --- 2:34 p.m.

Press Release from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue:

Today, Kathy I. Richard of the town of Benton was sentenced to 60-days in jail for filing fraudulent Wisconsin income tax returns. Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Vale also placed her on probation for three years and ordered her to pay $7,979 in restitution to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Richard had pled guilty to filing the false returns on August 17, 2011.

According to the criminal complaint, Richard falsified her 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 tax returns by falsely claiming that she operated a daycare business during these years. Richard deceived her tax preparers each year by providing them with sheets of paper in which she had listed fictitious amounts of income and fictitious expenses, typically claiming that she took care of four children. By creating a fake business operation, Richard obtained tax refunds of Earned Income Tax Credits that totaled $7,979 from the Department of Revenue and $12,165 from the Internal Revenue Service during those five years.

Richard was prosecuted by the State Attorney General's Office following an investigation that included the Wisconsin Department of Justice-Division of Criminal Investigation, the Social Security Administration and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.