Between 2014 and 2916, Febres prepared 77 inflated tax returns that sought $23.8 million in refunds and the IRS paid out more than $15 million in refunds as a result. She concealed her role by having all returns listed as self-prepared.

During the period, co-conspirators around the country held seminars promote this scheme telling clients their mortgages and other debts entitled them to refunds Those returns falsely claimed banks and other financial institutions had withheld large amounts of income tax from clients. There was no such withholding.

Febres reportedly received $500 per client, a portion of the $10,000 to $15,000 that co-conspirators charged clients to participate. She did not report this income on her 2014 and 2015 income tax returns and also claimed phony business losses.

In March, the scheme’s main promoter, Iran Backstrom, was sentenced to more than eight years in prison, and his  second-in-command, Mehef Bey, was sentenced to 11 years . In April, Aaron Aqueron, who recruited clients and provided information to Febres, received a more than four-years prison sentence.