A federal jury convicted an Illinois woman on fraud and tax offenses for cashing her deceased grandmother’s pension checks and preparing false tax returns.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Eunice Salley, aka Eunice Sally Dobyns, aka Oya Awanata-Bey, aka Oya Awanata, 37, of Chicago, was found guilty on all 29 counts against her, including pension fraud, embezzlement, mail fraud and tax charges. The jury returned the verdicts Friday after a four-day trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
According to evidence presented at trial, Salley worked as a paid tax return preparer. In 2016 and 2017, Salley prepared and filed with the IRS 22 false individual income tax returns on behalf of clients. The returns, which sought more than $1 million in false refunds, contained fictitious wages and withholdings, as well as false medical, charitable and employment related expenses. Salley demanded that many of her clients pay her up to 50% of the refund, in addition to her regular preparation fee.
Evidence regarding the pension fraud revealed that Salley’s grandmother died in 2009 after having worked for American Can Co. After her death, the grandmother’s monthly pension checks continued to be delivered to the residence where Salley continued to reside. From January 2013 to December 2017, 33 pension checks, totaling $14,131, were issued to the grandmother and deposited into one of six bank accounts opened and controlled by Salley. On several…
