RALEIGH -- A Wake County tax preparer was arrested Wednesday on charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Robin Champion, 35, of 1209 Curtiss Drive, Garner, was charged with 11 felony counts of aiding or assisting in the preparation of fraudulent state tax returns. Champion appeared before a Wake County magistrate and was released under a $33,000 secured bond. Her first appearance hearing is scheduled for April 17, 2003 in Wake County District Court in Raleigh.

The warrants allege that Champion inflated the itemized deductions of her clients, thereby reducing their taxable income, in an effort to deceive the state of North Carolina to issue tax refunds greater than they were lawfully entitled to receive.

The charges against Champion resulted from an investigation by special agents with the Department of Revenue's Criminal Investigations Division.

Last modified on: 10/31/07 03:43:45 PM.