Jun 25

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Below are examples of tax preparers who are facing years in federal prison and large financial fines for the criminal action of preparing and filing false tax returns.  Don't be one of these preparers!


Florida Tax Preparer Sentenced for False Return Conspiracy


A Florida tax return preparer was sentenced today to 30 months in prison, two years of supervised release and to pay $970,970 in restitution for conspiring to defraud the United States by preparing and filing false tax returns for clients. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2017 through 2020, John Borgela ran Empire Tax Services (Empire) with his co-conspirator Phedson Dore and filed hundreds of false returns each year. Borgela typically inflated tax withholdings and reported fictitious itemized deductions to generate refunds for clients to which they were not entitled. To conceal his participation in the fraud, Borgela did not list on the returns his name as the person who prepared them or include Empire’s electronic filing number (EFIN). Instead, he used his employees’ names and the EFINs of other return preparation businesses.

Borgela and his co-conspirator caused a loss to the IRS of approximately $970,000. Dore was sentenced in February to 24 months in prison for his role in the conspiracy.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement. IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Brian Flanagan and Marissa Brodney of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Laurie for the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case.

A Southern California man pleaded guilty yesterday to preparing and filing false tax returns for his clients.

According to court documents and statements made in court, starting in 2013, Salvador Gonzalez, of Corona, operated Grace’s Lighthouse Resource Center Inc., a return-preparation business. Since then, Gonzalez has prepared or assisted in the preparation of more than 11,000 tax returns that requested refunds from the IRS totaling more than $38 million.

Consistently, Gonzalez directed his clients to create a phony corporation and to title their homes, cars and other assets in the name of the corporation. Gonzalez then referred those clients to an associate to prepare these sham corporation’s tax returns. The associate would provide the clients with a blank spreadsheet and request that they input their business expenses into that spreadsheet. At Gonzalez’s direction, the clients would include personal expenses, such as their mortgage payments, car payments and utility bills, and then provide the spreadsheet to the associate. The associate would, in turn, use the spreadsheet to prepare the business tax returns, which inevitably would show a loss.

Gonzalez then prepared the clients’ individual income tax returns, which incorporated the fraudulent business losses and offset their income. To further reduce the clients’ taxes owed to the IRS, Gonzalez also fabricated deductions on the personal returns such as unreimbursed employee expenses, cash contributions to charity and medical and dental expenses. As a result of Gonzalez’s fraudulent return-preparation practices, his clients paid less taxes than they owed.

Gonzalez profited from his return-preparation business. Before 2019, he typically charged clients a flat fee of $500 per tax return. In 2019, he started charging clients 1% of their gross income as a fee for his services.

Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 7 and faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each of the three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns to which he has pleaded guilty. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and any other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Lauren K. Pope of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli A. Alcaraz for the Central District of California are prosecuting the case.

Tyrone J Taylor, EA

This information is to educate tax professionals regarding some of the consequences they can face if they take actions that are out of scope in preparing tax returns. Stay safe!  Do the right thing! 
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