(Washington, DC) Former District resident Keith Campbell was indicted today on 16 counts of tax fraud. Campbell is charged in connection with a conspiracy where he, and four others, allegedly recruited individuals to file false federal, District of Columbia and Maryland income tax returns in order to receive refunds to which they were not entitled. Campbell allegedly defrauded the District of more than $115,000 through the filing of 39 false returns.

“We have stepped up our compliance efforts in recent years, and we are aggressively pursuing all types of tax evasion, fraud or misrepresentation, no matter what the amount of tax owed,” said Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi.

Campbell faces a statutory penalty for the charges of up to 10 years of imprisonment per count, a $250,000 fine, an order of restitution, and three years of supervised release. His trial will be scheduled for early 2006.

“Disregard for the District’s tax laws will not be tolerated,” said Deputy Chief Financial Officer for Tax and Revenue Sherryl Hobbs Newman. “We encourage citizens to report any tax fraud to our Tax Fraud Hotline at 1-800-380-3495.”

The Office of Tax and Revenue’s Criminal Investigation Division collaborated with the Internal Revenue Service and the US Attorney’s office on the Campbell case. Assistant US Attorney Sherri L. Schornstein is prosecuting the case.