ZIMBABWE’S 100m sprint record holder Fabian Muyaba faces a lengthy jail term in the United States after he was convicted of preparing and filing false and fraudulent income tax returns.

Muyaba, 39, was convicted by a federal jury on Tuesday after a three-day trial along with another Zimbabwean, Joseph Mudekunye, both residents of Dallas, the third largest city in the state of Texas.

Sentencing has been set for September 24.

Muyaba, who represented Zimbabwe at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and the 1992 Games in Barcelona, has been warned to expect a lengthy jail term for the fraud running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Muyaba and Mudekunye were each convicted on one count of conspiracy to aid and assist in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent returns.

Separately, Mudekunye was convicted on three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent income tax returns and two counts of using a means of identification of another to commit a federal offence.

Muyaba was also convicted on six counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent income tax returns.

The conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each of the substantive tax counts, three for Mudekunye and six for Muyaba, carries a maximum statutory sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each count of using a means of identification of another to commit a federal offence carries a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor heard that the two Zimbabwean men, who were charged along with an American national, worked as tax preparers at Reliable Express Tax Service and Reliable Professional Tax Service, at 9203 Skillman Street in Dallas. They also worked at Efficient Tax Service and/or Proficient Tax Services LLC.

They conspired together to prepare and file IRS Individual Tax Returns, Forms 1040 and 1040A, which were false and fraudulent. They profited from these fraudulent filings.

“Another object of their conspiracy was to obtain additional clients by generating favourable word-of-mouth advertising from clients who received unexpected refunds,” said Acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

The prosecution team presented further evidence that Mudekunye and Muyaba wilfully and fraudulently reduced the amount of tax that was due to the IRS for their clients by falsely claiming head of household status, dependents, business expenses, education credits, earned income credit and federal telephone excise tax credits.

In some instances, Mudekunye unlawfully used the name and Social Security Number of another person to falsely claim those individuals as dependents of some tax payers. For their services, the defendants collected substantial cash payments from clients for the return preparation, some clients paying up to $1900 for the preparation of a simple Form 1040 or 1040A.

“The defendants concealed the fact from their clients that they deducted substantial fees from the clients’ Refund Anticipation Loan checks. They also submitted returns using others’ electronic filer identification numbers, rather than their own, to prevent the conspiracy from being discovered,” Jacks said.

Muyaba, a former Churchill Boys High School student, clocked a Zimbabwean 100m sprint record of 10.15 seconds in 1990. The record still stands.