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June 10, 2022

Ex-tax preparer to serve three years in prison

PHOTO | Pixabay.com
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

A former Naugatuck tax preparer will begin serving a three year prison sentence next month for filing falsified tax returns. 

Ana Nunez, also known as Ana Pagoaga, 51, of Naugatuck, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in late May to three years in federal prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release.

Nunez must report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on July 25 to begin serving her sentence.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Shea also ordered Nunez to pay $501,933 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, and $78,829 to the state of Connecticut.

Nunez pleaded guilty in 2020 to two counts of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Nunez owned and operated Nunez MultiServices LLC, a tax return preparation business in Naugatuck, from 2011 to 2016.

During that time, she filed around 6,000 returns for approximately 2,600 taxpayers. The government claimed Nunez “routinely” falsified income, expenses — such as for education and childcare, and deductions like business mileage. Prosecutors allege she additionally attempted to obstruct justice, including by attempting to intimidate a potential witness.

Her defense attorney, Norman Pattis, had asked the court for leniency and to consider factors, such as her lack of a prior criminal record and her acceptance of responsibility, in determining a sentence.

“She has been deterred; a message has been sent to other tax preparers, thus serving the purposes of general deterrence,” Pattis wrote, in a pre-sentencing memorandum.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

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