Thread: MA: Illegal alien living in Springfield, Yolanda Mercedes Perez de Lopez, to be arrai

Illegal alien living in Springfield, Yolanda Mercedes Perez de Lopez, to be arraigned on identity theft, tax fraud charges

MASS Live.com
March 8, 2012
SPRINGFIELD, MA

A Springfield woman who stole an identity to remain in the United States as a citizen after arriving here on a travel visa in 2001 is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in federal court for a fresh set of tax fraud, deceipt and many other criminal charges.


Yolanda Mercedes Perez de Lopez, 50, a Dominican national and mother of three, was masquerading as Alicia Perez after robbing and using the identity of a Puerto Rican woman, according to federal prosecutors.

She was first indicted last year with charges related to preparing false tax returns for customers of Lopez Multiservice, a small tax preparation business on Central Street owned by her common-law-husband.


The couple’s home and business were originally searched in 2009, when de Lopez began lying to IRS agents, court records state.


“She blatantly lied to federal investigators by representing herself to be ‘Alicia Perez’ .¤.¤. and counseled several of her clients to lie,” an application to secure her pretrial detention states.


The defendant was first charged last year with falsifying tax records on behalf of several clients and her “domestic partner,” Jose Lopez. She would draft tax returns to gain her clients more credits and higher refunds, the charges state. She also obtained a mortgage for Lopez with bogus financials, prosecutors state.


De Lopez has been held for nearly a year and recently was hit with many new charges by a grand jury in U.S. District Court that include falsely representing her citizenship and aggravated identity theft to deceive and fraud.

The latter charge exposes de Lopez to a mandatory minimum of two years in prison on top of any penalties she could receive if convicted of any of the other 22 criminal counts she now faces.

Alleged illegal alien living in Springfield, Yolanda Mercedes Perez de Lopez, to be arraigned on identity theft, tax fraud charges | masslive.com

I love to see people like this caught!!!

Originally Posted by Kiara

I love to see people like this caught!!!

Couldn't agree with you more!

Originally Posted by Kiara

I love to see people like this caught!!!

I agree, however, it's unfortunate that she wasn't deported in 2009 when it was discovered that she was lying to the IRS. Why didn't IRS report her to ICE ...... or did they?