A Canyon Lake woman has been sentenced to 24 months in prison after being found guilty of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, according to federal court documents.

Dawn Marie Munoz, aged 54, ran a tax preparation business, where she filed IRS forms for an organization and several of its members. Munoz was found to have underreported her clients’ income paid as stipends from the organization when preparing and submitting joint IRS Form 1040 individual income tax returns.

Munoz was arrested on April 12, 2022, and later pleaded guilty on May 10, 2023, to one count of a 16-count indictment. Alongside her prison sentence, Munoz has been ordered to pay $227,197.65 to four victims.

U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas commented, “Munoz was an experienced tax preparer who engaged in fraudulent business practices and took advantage of the longtime clients who trusted her. This investigation by our law enforcement partners at FBI El Paso and IRS Criminal Investigation, along with the punishment delivered by the judge, shows that anyone who tries to undermine our tax system risks prosecution with serious penalties.”

Special Agent in Charge John Morales for the FBI El Paso Division added, “The defendant took advantage of her position to personally enrich herself at the expense of the citizens of El Paso. The public can be rest assured the defendant was held accountable for the crimes she committed. The FBI thank our partners at IRS Criminal Investigation for assisting in the investigation to stop Munoz from stealing from hard working employees for her own greed.”

Special Agent in Charge Ramsey E. Covington of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Houston Field Office highlighted the severity of Munoz's actions, stating, “Munoz lied and stole from her clients in ways that should make everyone question and double check every aspect of their tax returns this year. She prepared fraudulent returns for clients, convinced them to write checks to pay money to the IRS that they didn’t owe, stole the money, and filed false returns herself to cover her tracks. This level of deceit, on the part of Munoz, may likely reverberate far beyond West Texas.”

The investigation was conducted jointly by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation.