Tax Fraud

May 11, 2016

A federal grand jury sitting in New Orleans, Louisiana, returned an indictment against a LaPlace, Louisiana, woman charging her with 37 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, eight counts of contempt of court, one count of bank fraud and one count of forgery of a judge’s signature. According to the indictment, Shawanda Nevers aka Shawanda Hawkins and Shawanda Bryant, operated a tax return preparation business under several names and at various locations in the LaPlace area. It is alleged that between 2011 and 2016, Nevers filed 37 false tax returns for clients that claimed a variety of fraudulent losses and deductions, including false Schedule C businesses and false unreimbursed employee expenses. In September 2014, a federal judge permanently enjoined Nevers from preparing federal tax returns. Nevers is charged with contempt of court for violating that injunction by preparing eight federal income tax returns in 2015 and 2016. Nevers also is charged with forging the signature of a federal bankruptcy judge on a false document purporting to be an order reinstating a bankruptcy petition and with bank fraud for submitting a fraudulent claim for losses supposedly caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. DOJ

May 10, 2016

A Kentucky man pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to claims, and one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Brian Hamilton admitted that during the years 2011 and 2012 he conspired with others, including his brother, Billy Ray Hamilton, Patsy Carnes and Diana Hill to file false tax returns from the Bailey Switch Pawn Shop in Knox County, Kentucky. According to the plea agreement, the Hamiltons prepared and electronically filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at least 31 tax returns that contained false and fraudulent information regarding wages, self-employment income, expenses, filing statuses and dependents. The Hamiltons did not list their names as return preparers on these tax returns. In some cases, the Hamiltons filed false tax returns without the knowledge or permission of the taxpayers named on the returns. DOJ

May 4, 2016

A Brooklyn, New York, business owner pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns. According to court documents and information presented in court, Michael Stern, 48, was the founder and operator of Prestige Optical, a retailer of sunglasses and eyeglasses. For the 2006 and 2007 tax years, Stern filed false federal income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on which he failed to report approximately $656,780 of income from online retail sales. Stern faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count of filing a false tax return. As part of his plea agreement, Stern also agreed to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $190,781. DOJ

May 3, 2016

New York announced a settlement with Aby J. Rosen, a major contemporary art collector, for failing to pay millions in sales and use taxes on art acquisitions made by his companies. Rosen will pay $7 million following the Attorney General’s investigation into the use of resale certificates. The Attorney General alleges that beginning in 2002, Mr. Rosen bought or commissioned more than $80 million worth of contemporary art, but did not pay applicable State and City sales and use taxes on the purchases. Between 2002 and 2015, Mr. Rosen used two companies, known as 22nd Century Acquisitions LLC and Lever House Artwork LLC, to purchase and, in Lever House Artwork’s case, commission artwork, claiming an exclusion from sales tax on the basis that the purchases and commissions were for resale. NY

May 3, 2016

A resident of Bowie, Maryland, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty in January for his involvement in a far-reaching identity theft and tax fraud scheme in which he assisted in the filing of fraudulent federal income tax returns seeking more than $4.4 million in refunds. Marc A. Bell, 49, a former employee of the District of Columbia’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), admitted taking part in a massive and sophisticated identity theft and false tax return scheme that involved an extensive network of more than 130 people, many of whom were receiving public assistance. According to court documents, the scheme involved the filing of at least 12,000 fraudulent federal income tax returns that sought refunds of at least $42 million from the U.S. Treasury. DOJ

April 28, 2016

Two men who conspired to file more than 1,200 false tax returns using stolen identities were sentenced to prison. Ernest James Simmons Jr., 29, of Phenix City, Alabama, was sentenced to 24 months and 15 days in prison followed by five months of home detention and Calvin J. Perry, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 32 months in prison. Simons and Perry each pleaded guilty in December 2015 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to filing false income tax refund claims and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to court documents and evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, between 2010 and 2012, Simmons and Perry conspired with Perry’s mother, Pamela Ann Smith, to run a large-scale stolen identity refund fraud scheme from Smith’s tax return preparation business, Jaycal Tax Service, in Phenix City. Simmons was directly connected to false returns claiming more than $700,000 in fraudulent refunds and Perry was directly connected to false returns claiming over $1 million in fraudulent refunds. DOJ

April 22, 2016

An Austell, Georgia husband and wife pleaded guilty to charges relating to their involvement in a stolen identity income tax refund fraud scheme. Anthony Alika, 42, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. His wife Sonia Alika, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of illegally structuring cash withdrawals to evade bank reporting requirements. In January 2016, Anthony Alika and Sonia Alika were charged with laundering the proceeds from a stolen identity refund fraud scheme. The indictment alleged that Anthony Alika, along with Rapheal Atebefia, 33, of Austell, Georgia, obtained means of identification of actual individuals, including their names and social security numbers, and used this information to access the IRS “Get Transcript” database. The indictment further alleged that Anthony Alika, Atebefia, and others obtained prepaid debit cards from stores located in multiple states, registered the cards in the names of the stolen identities, filed false income tax returns using the stolen identities and information obtained from the Get Transcript database, and directed the IRS to deposit the tax refunds onto these cards. DOJ

April 18, 2016

According to a civil lawsuit filed by the Justice Department, Rose M. Chazulle, a tax return preparer in Miami has prepared fraudulent federal tax returns that claim education and fuel credits to which her clients are not entitled. The suit seeks to bar Chazulle and her company, RMC Professional Services Corporation, from preparing federal tax returns for others. According to the complaint, Chazulle prepared federal income tax returns for customers that falsely claimed refundable credits, including American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit. Chazulle included the false education credits for customers who did not incur educational costs and otherwise did not qualify for this credit. The complaint estimates that Chazulle’s conduct cost the United States over $14 million for the tax years 2011 to 2013. DOJ

April 15, 2016

The Department of Justice filed a civil injunction suit seeking to bar Patrick Clarke of Hallandale Beach, Florida, and Ruby Rodriguez of Orlando, Florida, from owning, operating, or franchising a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others. The complaint also requests that the court order Clarke and Rodriguez to disgorge the fees that they obtained through the alleged fraudulent tax return preparation. According to the complaint, Clarke owns and operates Tax MD, a tax return preparation business with stores in Florida and North Carolina. Rodriguez allegedly manages one of Clarke’s stores located in Orlando. Clarke’s preparers, including Rodriguez, allegedly target primarily low to moderate income customers with misleading advertisements, prepare and file fraudulent tax returns to improperly increase their customers’ refunds and profit through unconscionable, exorbitant and often undisclosed fees—all at the expense of their customers and the U.S. Treasury. DOJ

April 14, 2016

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a District of Columbia tax return preparer with 35 counts of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns. According to the indictment, Joann Little worked at a tax return preparation business called Instant Tax Service, presently operating under the name Speedy Tax Service, which is located at 1002 H Street, NE, in Washington, D.C. The indictment alleges that Little prepared false personal income tax returns for clients for tax years 2009 through 2014. She is alleged to have attached schedules that reported inflated or fictitious deductions, which resulted in fraudulently claimed income tax refunds. DOJ