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Two tax preparers in North Carolina have pleaded guilty to charges that they prepared fraudulent tax returns with an estimated loss to the government of $1.5 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Court documents say Whitney Danielle Sales owned and operated a tax preparation business in Durham and from 2014 to 2018 she and fellow tax return preparer Janelle Marie Corley prepared fraudulent returns for clients which claimed false education credits or manipulated the clients’ income to qualify for larger earned income tax credits.

In addition to the false client returns, Sales and Corley also filed false personal income tax returns, prosecutors said.

Sales and Corley both pleaded guilty this month to conspiring to defraud the United States. Sales is scheduled for sentencing on May 19 and Corley is scheduled to be sentenced on May 26, officials said. They each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

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