An Auburn woman pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to charges of filing a false tax return and interfering with federal tax laws.
Rakiya Mohamed, 30, was the owner of Reliable Language Resources LLC, which she falsely reported had paid for more than $135,500 in “contract labor in 2018, and more than $320,000 in contract labor and office costs in 2019,” according to court records filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.
Prosecutors say Mohamed reported the income and expenses for her business on her individual income tax returns. She also reported false and fraudulent expenses for contract labor and office expenses for Reliable Language Resources on those tax returns, according to court records.
When the Internal Revenue Service audited Mohamed’s tax returns for those years, records state, they found she had also falsely reported paying more than $99,600 to eight people who she had said were contracted laborers.
“In truth, as Mohamed knew, Reliable Language Resources had not made these payments and the supposed payees had not provided any services for Reliable Language Resources,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Green wrote in court records. “Mohamed also produced to auditors handwritten receipts and checks for expenses that were not in fact incurred or paid by Reliable Language Resources.”
Mohamed pleaded guilty to the charges Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland. She faces up to three years in prison on each count and potential fines of up to $250,000.
According to federal prosecutors, Mohamed had been doing work for Bright Future Healthier You, a company that bills MaineCare for health and social services.
Investigators alleged the companies worked together to falsify tax filings by claiming interpreters were paid for services that never occurred.
Mohamed will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigative report by the U.S. Probation Office.
A federal grand jury last year indicted three people, including Mohamed’s parent, who worked at Bright Future Healthier You. Prosecutors dropped charges against the third person in July.
Abdifitah Abdi of Momo Interpreters in Lewiston, who was also indicted, has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud and one count of interfering with internal revenue laws.
Abdi is requesting a trial later this summer.
Staff Writer Emily Allen contributed reporting.
