Former Freeport tax preparer pleads guilty to stealing $12 million from IRS, COVID-19 relief program

A former tax preparer from Freeport admitted in federal court on Wednesday that she defrauded the U.S. government and a pandemic-era business loan program of $12 million, using some of the money to buy a home in the Caribbean, a car and jewelry.

Damaris Beltre, 58, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sanket J. Bulsara to two counts of wire fraud and one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 26. The judge said she faces up to 20 years in prison on the first count of wire fraud, up to 30 years on the second count and up to 3 years on the assisting in the preparation of false tax returns count. The judge will decide if the prison terms are to be served concurrently or consecutively. 

Beltre also agreed to pay $11.6 million in restitution.

In federal court in Central Islip, she acknowledged preparing more than 800 false tax returns for individuals and businesses. The fraudulent returns led to nearly $11 million in refunds that the clients weren't entitled to and several million dollars in unpaid taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

Beltre also said she worked with her ex-husband to submit at least five fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program loans and received $1 million. The applications included false information about payroll and employee counts, she said.

"I wasn't entitled to these loans," Beltre told the judge. "I used my share to discharge business debts, buy a house in the Dominican Republic and jewelry."

Beltre is among 47 Long Islanders charged with allegedly defrauding the PPP, the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, the Employee Retention Tax Credit program, the Sick and Family Leave Wage Credit program and four unemployment insurance programs. Together, they are accused of stealing more than $93 million, according to a Newsday review of federal court cases in Central Islip, Brooklyn, Manhattan, White Plains and Albany.

Beltre has been held for 10 months at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since her arrest at Kennedy Airport, where prosecutors said she was stopped before boarding a flight to the Dominican Republic. On Wednesday, she wore a tan, MDC-issued uniform and briefly made eye contact with two people in the courtroom but wasn't permitted to speak with them.

After Beltre's guilty plea, Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement that the case "should serve as a warning to anyone who, like this defendant, views federal programs and the federal treasury as their own personal piggybanks, that you will be arrested and vigorously prosecuted."

According to the indictment, Beltre used PPP funds to pay $22,500 for a house in the Dominican Republic in June 2020, $16,000 for a Honda CR-V in May 2021 and tens of thousands of dollars at jewelry stores in 2021 and 2022.

Prosecutors said Beltre owned and operated at least two businesses that fraudulently secured PPP loans: Botanica El Poder De San Miguel and L&D Tax & Multi Service Corp. She also was associated with PPP recipient Apollo Global Improvements LLC, prosecutors said.

Between January 2021 and April 2024, Beltre prepared false income tax returns submitted to the IRS that resulted in fraudulent refunds, prosecutors said. Clients paid her more than $1 million to prepare the returns, including a percentage of any refund they received.

Harry T. Chavis Jr., special agent-in-charge of the local office of the IRS Criminal Investigation, said, "Beltre was a shady tax preparer. ... She hoarded funds meant for those with a legitimate need just to fatten her own pockets," he said in a statement after Wednesday's court hearing.

In court, Beltre's attorney, Robert P. LaRusso, said she has no money and owns no property in the United States that could be subject to forfeiture by the federal government to help recover the stolen tax receipts and PPP loans.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.