A Chicago woman has been accused by the U.S. of preparing fraudulent tax returns by faking donations to charities and inflating rental losses from real estate properties.

The federal government says Rita J. Augustus, owner of Windy City Insurance Agency Inc. and Windy City Tax Service, prepared 4,283 tax returns from 2005 to 2009 with an “unusually high refund rate of over 94 percent,” according to court records. The government estimates it lost about $20 million in revenue as a result.

Augustus’ father started the company in 1965. She took control of the company after her father’s death in 2002, according to court records.

Among Augustus’ clients was a principal from a Chicago high school, a teacher and a firefighter.

Augustus made bogus claims of charitable donations that her clients deny making. In one return, Augustus claimed a bogus $8,425 charitable donation from a couple. Making such a contribution, the government says, would have required the couple to contribute 10 percent of the husband’s wages. The husband is an electrician.

Augustus also claimed thousands of dollars in “loss of rent” from clients who say they weren’t looking for tenants. In one instance, Augustus claimed a loss of $74,693 from two properties owned by a woman who says she lives in one of those properties, according to court records.

Augustus couldn’t be reached for comment.