A Connecticut woman whose business prepared tax returns for thousands of people will spend time behind bars and pay more than $500,000 in restitution for filing false returns, federal authorities have announced.

New Haven County resident Ana Nunez, also known as 51-year-old Ana Pagoda, of Naugatuck, was sentenced in Hartford to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for producing false tax returns for clients of its tax preparation service.

US attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said that between 2011 and 2016, Nunez owned and operated Nunez MultiServices, a tax preparation service located on Church Street in Naugatuck.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said Nunez filed about 6,000 returns for more than 2,500 different taxpayers.

On multiple tax returns she prepared for clients, Nunez routinely inflated income or created fictitious income, officials said, including falsifying expenses such as education and childcare expenses, and falsified deductions, such as business mileage.

Prosecutors said that after a grand jury charged her with multiple counts of filing false tax returns, Nunez obstructed the prosecution of the case by creating false invoices to clients, which she then provided to the government in an attempt to justify the extra money she took. refunds from customers.

She also tried to intimidate a potential witness, according to Avery.

Nunez pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting the filing of a false tax return in January 2020.

In addition to her prison sentence, Nunez was also ordered to pay $501,933 in restitution to the IRS and $78,829 to the State of Connecticut.

She remains free on bail and is due in jail on Monday, July 25.

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