Former State Employee Pleads Guilty to Failing to File Tax Returns

BALTIMORE, MD ( Dec. 16, 2010) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Linda A. Silva, 48, of Glen Burnie, entered a plea of guilty to two counts of willful failure to file Maryland income tax in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.  The Honorable Paul Hackner granted Silva a probationary sentence and ordered her to complete five years of supervised probation. 

For tax years 2005 and 2007, Silva, a certified public accountant and former employee of the Maryland Office of the Comptroller who also owns her own tax preparation company, failed to file her income taxes as required by law.  As part of the plea agreement, Silva made restitution in the amount of $4,023.28 and signed an agreement stating she will refrain from acting as a tax preparer during the five year probationary period.

The conviction follows an investigation by the Attorney General's Criminal Division, with assistance from the Maryland State Police and the Maryland Office of the Comptroller's Revenue Administration Division.  In making today's announcement, Attorney General Gansler thanked Assistant Attorney General Megan Davey Limarzi and Investigative Auditor Jim Williams for their work on the case.