Las Vegas Man Sentenced to Prison in $5M Tax Refund Fraud Scheme

LAS VEGAS - A Las Vegas man was sentenced today to 38 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,052,378 in restitution for conspiring to defraud the United States by filing false tax returns with the IRS and diverting portions of the resulting tax refunds to himself and his codefendant.

"This office has zero tolerance for corrupt tax professionals who treat the U.S. Treasury like their personal slush fund and prey on innocent taxpayers," said First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. "The defendant abused a position of trust to orchestrate a brazen, multi-million dollar theft. Today's sentence makes it crystal clear: if you scheme to defraud the government and steal from your clients, we will hunt you down, dismantle your operation, and ensure you face hard time in federal prison."

"Mr. Odiaga's federal prison sentence sends a clear message that tax professionals who abuse their position of trust and steal from taxpayers are being held accountable," said IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) San Francisco Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge John Abram. "For years, the defendant and his mother used fraud and deception to exploit hundreds of clients and enrich themselves at the expense of the American taxpayer. IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to pursue those who feed their greed and threaten the integrity of our tax system."

According to court documents and statements made in court, Ivan Odiaga prepared federal income tax returns at Silver State Tax & Multiservices LLC, a tax preparation business in Las Vegas owned by his mother and co-defendant, Iris Hondermann. From approximately 2017 through 2021, Odiaga and his mother prepared tax returns for clients that included one or more false items, including business profits and losses, COVID-19 sick and family leave credits, and residential energy credits. In 2020 and 2021, Odiaga prepared some of these returns using the Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) of another tax preparer without permission.

Between 2017 and 2021, Odiaga and his mother prepared false tax returns filed with the IRS seeking more than $5 million in refunds that their clients were not entitled to receive. At times, Odiaga and his mother also diverted portions of client tax refunds to themselves. From 2017 through 2021, they diverted more than $1.1 million in fraudulent tax refunds to bank accounts one or both of them controlled.

Hondermann previously pleaded guiltyLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. on Aug. 5 to one count of conspiring to defraud the United States.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division, First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada, and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) San Francisco Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge John Abram made the announcement.

IRS-CI investigated the case. Trial Attorney Stuart A. Wexler of the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Tax Section prosecuted the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

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