Mpls. tax preparer charged with defrauding state of more than $1.4M

A Minneapolis woman has been charged with 53 felony counts for filing false income tax statements on behalf of her clients and failing to file her own returns.

Rona Griffin is accused of cheating the state out of more than 1.4 million between 2009 and 2013.

The complaint states Griffin falsified clients' income and deductions to secure tax refunds they weren't entitled to. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says some of those clients will have to repay the refunds, but won't face criminal charges.

"We believe she swindled good, hard-working folks out of their money," he said. "They paid to have a proper tax return prepared and they got a piece of junk."

Griffin told MPR News she was not aware of the charges, and declined to comment further.

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