WebCPA writes about a Florida unenrolled tax preparer who has been convicted of filing false returns and falsely telling clients that he was an ex-IRS employee and had the IRS “pre-audit” their tax returns:
U.S. District Court Judge James D. Whittemore of the Middle District of Florida in Tampa entered a permanent injunction order against preparer Gerald Mirabella, of Spring Hill, Fla., who consented to the order.
According to prosecutors, Mirabella prepared federal income tax returns claiming false deductions for medical expenses, charitable contributions, non-existent businesses and other items. The tax loss from Mirabella’s conduct was alleged to be as high as $1.7 million.
The IRS has intensitifed its efforts to prosecute unscrupulous and incompetent tax preparers who claim false deductions. In the last ten years the Department of Justice has enjoined and/or obtained convictions of more than 400 tax preparers and fraudulent tax scheme promoters.
The article also mentions another recent, successfully prosecuted preparer fraud case:
[A] Maryland tax preparer, Lawrence Sperling, was sentenced Wednesday to 33 months in prison after he pleaded guilty in April to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false tax return.
He was accused of falsifying claims for medial expenses, charitable contributions, miscellaneous employment-related expenses, and childcare credits, causing a tax loss of over $800,000 to the IRS.
2 responses so far ↓
1 IRS to Target Bad Tax Preparers and their Clients // Jan 12, 2010 at 2:22 pm
[...] Unenrolled Tax Preparer Told Clients Their Returns were “Pre-Approved” by the IRS Bookmark & Share: [...]
2 Unenrolled Tax Preparer Outfit Shut Down for Tax Fraud // Sep 16, 2010 at 11:54 am
[...] Unenrolled Tax Preparer Told Clients their Returns were “Pre-Approved” by the IRS [...]
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