Woman Faces State Felony Tax Charges

A Newport Beach businesswoman was charged Friday with filing false state tax returns and tax evasion for allegedly failing to report $1.5 million in income over the course of three years, authorities said.

Maurine Walker, 43, owner of Walker & Associates employment agency on MacArthur Boulevard in Newport Beach, is accused of failing to file state tax returns for 1987 through 1989, according to Jim Shepherd, a spokesman for the state Franchise Tax Board. After a state investigation, Walker reportedly filed the returns late and underreported her income by more than $370,000, Shepherd said.

Walker was charged with six counts of state tax evasion and three felony counts of filing a false return, Shepherd said. If convicted, she could be sentenced to 27 years in state prison and fined a total of $180,000.

Walker was employed by Janway Employment Agency in 1987-88 and operated Century West Agency, another Newport Beach-based employment agency, as a partnership in 1988 and was sole owner in 1989, Shepherd said.

Walker, a Los Angeles and Newport Beach resident since 1985, was previously arrested in Los Angeles and convicted in 1991 on check forgery charges from Vail, Colo., Shepherd said. At the time of that arrest, she had 21 credit cards and 10 identification cards in the name of Maureen Walker, three credit cards in the name of Maurine Higuera and with evidence of three Social Security card numbers, Shepherd said.

Walker could not be reached for comment.