FORMER EMPLOYEE OF COMPTROLLER’S OFFICE
CONVICTED OF TAX CRIMES

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Deborah A. Davis, age 46, of the 6700 block of Dogwood Road, Baltimore, was convicted in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court on three violations of Maryland tax laws. Davis pled guilty to filing false State income tax returns on her own behalf in 2001 and 2003 and to assisting another person to prepare a false 2001 tax return. At the time of these offenses, Ms. Davis was employed in the State Comptroller’s Office in the Revenue Administration Division. She is no longer employed by the State.

The Honorable Ronald A. Silkworth sentenced Ms. Davis to a six-month suspended sentence and two years of supervised probation. During probation, the defendant is to complete 100 hours of community service and is prohibited from preparing tax returns for all persons and business other than herself. The Court also imposed a $1,000 suspended fine.

The criminal case grew out of a taxpayer’s complaint to the State Comptroller’s Office, which in turn initiated an internal audit. Initially, a coworker of Deborah Davis was audited, and admitted cheating on her 2001 tax return by inflating her itemized deductions. When she named Deborah Davis as the tax preparer who assisted her in preparing the false tax return, the audit expanded to Deborah Davis as well. Davis admitted assisting in the preparation of the false 2001 tax return filed by her coworker. Davis could not provide documentation to substantiate her own inordinately high itemized deductions for tax years 2001, 2002, and 2003 on her personal returns.

The matter was forwarded to the Attorney General’s Criminal Investigation Division for further investigation and prosecution. That investigation revealed that the defendant’s 2001 Maryland tax return overstated by $6,813 Davis’ itemized deduction for charitable contributions and overstated by $2,875 her medical deductions. Likewise, for tax year 2003, the criminal investigation revealed that Davis had wilfully overstated her charitable deductions by $4,022, nor could she provide documentation to support $4,495 in medical deductions. As a result of the investigation, Davis has already repaid the Comptroller’s Office the back taxes she owed.

The Attorney General’s Criminal Investigations Division acknowledges the Maryland Comptroller’s Office and the Maryland State Police for their assistance in the investigation.