By Darrell Smith and Mark Glover
The Sacramento Bee (sacbee.com)
Published: Wednesday, Apr. 20, 2011 – 4:34 pm
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 8, 2011 – 12:35 pm
Roni Deutch, the self-styled “Tax Lady,” could face jail time on contempt of court allegations after allegedly shredding millions of pages of documents and failing to pay clients refunds in violation of a court order.
Calling Deutch a “predator for profit,” State Attorney General Kamala Harris on Thursday asked a Sacramento County Superior Court judge to send Deutch to jail and levy thousands of dollars in fines connected to the allegations.
Harris, in a statement, alleged that Deutch destroyed as many as 2.7 million pages of documents, shredding evidence on which state’s attorneys hoped to prosecute their case.
Deutch has been in hot water with the AG’s office for nearly a year. In August 2010, the state’s top law enforcement officer filed a $34 million lawsuit against the Tax Lady accusing her of swindling her clients. Later that same month, a court order was issued preventing Deutch from destroying evidence, according to the attorney general’s statement.
“Deutch showed herself to be a predator for profit, preying on innocent, hard-working people who were simply hoping to settle their accounts with the IRS,” Harris said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Deutch’s law firm, based in North Highlands, posted revenues in excess of $25 million a year, according to the Attorney General’s office. Deutch is probably best-known for her brash style and television commercials that promise relief to tax payers who sign up for her firm’s services.
Attempts to reach Deutch were not immediately successful.
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