On Monday, March 25, 2019 ACRO provided testimony at a public hearing held by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department...

A Las Vegas federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Alan Rodrigues, a former pit boss and casino owner from Henderson, Nev.; Weston Coolidge, a businessman from Las Vegas; and Joseph Prokop, a former National Football League punter from Upland, Calif., with a tax fraud scheme for their promotion of a fraudulent tax product through the now defunct National Audit Defense Network (NADN).

A federal court in Maine has permanently barred Robert A. Grover from preparing federal tax returns for others. The court also ordered the Maine resident to provide his customer lists to the government and to mail copies of the complaint and court order to his customers. Grover consented to the civil injunction order.

A federal district court in Connecticut has permanently barred Elda Sinani, a resident of that state, from preparing federal tax returns for others. Sinani consented to the civil injunction order.

A federal court in Los Angeles invalidated an abusive tax shelter scheme engaged in by prominent real estate investors James Thomas and Edward Fox. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter also imposed the maximum penalty - forty percent - allowed by the tax code against them.

Michael Haynes, a practicing minister, and David Jett, both of Las Vegas, were sentenced to 37 months in prison and five years probation, respectively, by Chief U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hunt in Las Vegas. Haynes and Jett were also ordered to pay restitution of $834,000 and $150,000, respectively, to the U.S. Treasury.

The United States has sued a Dallas tax preparer, Tina Preston, her tax-preparation firm – Preston Tax Services, Inc. – and several other individuals associated with the firm, seeking to bar them all permanently from the tax-preparation business. The civil injunction suit was filed in Dallas with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The United States has sued a Clive, Iowa, couple to bar them from preparing federal tax returns for others. According to the government complaint, Jill Schwartz-Musin, her husband Howard Musin, and their business, SSC Services, prepare fraudulent federal income tax returns for small business owners.

The United States has sued a Sacramento, Calif., tax preparer, Chris Elmer, his firm – Associated Tax Planners Inc. (ATP) – and several members of his family associated with ATP, seeking to bar them all permanently from the tax-preparation business. The civil injunction suit was filed in Sacramento with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has permanently barred Chalamar Muhammad and her husband, Curtis Muhammad, from preparing tax returns for others. Judge Harvey Bartle III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered the order of permanent injunction after the Coatesville, Pa., couple failed to defend against the government’s allegations.

Eduardo Cortez, a resident of Mays Landing, N.J., was sentenced to 36 months incarceration and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden, N.J. According to his plea agreement, Cortez and his employees knowingly prepared false and fraudulent tax returns for customers that included false and inflated deductions, credits and adjustments.

A federal court in Maine permanently barred Donna L. Hamilton from preparing federal tax returns for others. The court also ordered the Maine resident to provide her customer lists to the government and to mail copies of the court order to her customers. Hamilton consented to the civil injunction order.

DaJuan Jackson, a former tax return preparer in District Heights, Md., was sentenced to 51 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus for preparing false tax returns for customers.

A federal district court in Tennessee has permanently barred Chattanooga resident Demita Brown-Watkins from preparing federal income tax returns for others. Brown-Watkins agreed to the civil injunction order. According to the government complaint, Brown-Watkins ran her tax-preparation business through two companies—Fastax and Rapid Tax Service—and advertised the “largest refund in town.”

Rodrick Williams, a former tax return preparer from District Heights, Md., was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus for preparing false tax returns for customers.

A former employee of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has been indicted on corruption and tax violations arising from her alleged receipt of a $100,000 bribe while working at the Ex-Im Bank.

The United States has sued Robert Cusenza, a West Palm Beach tax return preparer, seeking to bar him permanently from the tax preparation business. The government’s complaint asks the court to order Cusenza to stop preparing returns and to turn over his customer list to the Justice Department.

The United States has filed suit against a Jacksonville, Fla., tax return preparer, seeking to shut down her business. According to the government complaint, Shirley Clark, who operates the Nichet Corp., has prepared at least 1,250 federal tax returns for her customers from 2004 until 2007 and, on those returns, Clark has claimed nearly $750,000 in fraudulent fuel tax credits.

A federal court has permanently barred Harold Mette of Bradenton, Fla., from preparing federal income tax returns for others. Mette, who has a Ph.D. degree and calls his business “The Tax Doctor,” consented to the permanent injunction order, which was entered by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

After nearly 13 years as a fugitive, a former New Jersey resident has been returned to the United States, and pleaded guilty today to conspiring to committing one of the nation’s largest known motor fuel excise tax schemes. Aaron Misulovin a/k/a Albert Friedman, a/k/a Valery Vibornov, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas in Camden, N.J., to one count of conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering and three counts of tax evasion.

The United States has sued tax return preparers in Placerville, Calif., and Columbia, S.C., seeking to bar them from preparing federal tax returns for others. According to the government complaints in the two cases, Teresa Marty of Pollock Pines, Calif., and Winston Able of Blythewood, S.C., prepare federal income tax returns for their customers that claim fraudulent tax refunds.

A former official of the U.S. Tax Court was sentenced today in connection with a bribery conspiracy involving contracts at the U.S. Tax Court in the District of Columbia. Fred Fernando Timbol Jr., 43, of Mount Airy, Md., was sentenced by Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

Odell Folks, a resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Tanya Smith, a resident of Waterbury, Conn., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to file false claims for tax refunds. Folks also pleaded guilty to mail fraud and making a false tax return.

Marshall E. Sanders, an attorney based in Vicksburg, Miss., was sentenced to 18 months in prison for failure to file tax returns by Magistrate Judge James C. Sumner. In addition, Judge Sumner ordered Sanders to pay restitution to the IRS of $1,025,453.

A federal court has permanently barred Raymond A. Renfrow of Elm City, N.C., from preparing federal income tax returns for others. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina entered the civil injunction order, which also stops Renfrow from promoting a tax fraud scheme that used sham trusts to falsely deduct customers’ non-deductible personal expenses.

The United States has sued a Fort Richey, Fla., tax preparer, Frank Lighty, and his tax-preparation firm – Lighty & seeking to bar them permanently from the tax preparation business. The civil injunction suit was filed in Tampa with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

The United States has asked a federal court in Savannah, Ga., to permanently bar Ophelia Kelley of Vidalia, Ga., from preparing federal income tax returns for others. According to the government complaint, Kelley operates two return preparation firms in Vidalia – Kelley Tax Service, and City and Country Girl Tax Service.

Adrian Dicker, a United Kingdom chartered accountant and former vice chairman and board member at a major international accounting firm, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with certain tax shelter promoters to defraud the United States in connection with tax shelter transactions involving clients of the accounting firm and the law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist (J&G).

A federal court has shut down two Dallas tax preparers during the height of tax-filing season. Chief Judge Sidney Fitzwater of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas signed a temporary restraining order barring Ethel Washington from preparing any tax returns. The court has also permanently barred Washington’s former employer, Tina Preston, and her firm, The Preston Group & Associates Inc., from preparing federal tax returns.

Edward B. Bartoli, a Clearwater, Fla., resident and former attorney, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle of Chicago. Bartoli is the last of six defendants to be sentenced after they were convicted of various tax crimes in May 2008. Prior to his conviction, Bartoli was a founder of Aegis and its legal director.

A Newton, Conn., resident who was involved in operating three businesses in Brooklyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Mariusz Debowksi pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to conspiracy to aid another in filing false tax returns.

Bruce Lapierre, of Pascoag, R.I., and Albert Martin and Lorraine Martin, both of Woonsocket, R.I., were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion following 2 hours of deliberations and an 8-day trial before Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi in Providence, R.I.

The United States has brought suit in federal court against Gayle Lemmon of Humboldt, Iowa. The lawsuit seeks to bar her and her firm from preparing federal tax returns for others. According to the government complaint in the case, Lemmon’s firm, Gayle’s Bookkeeping and Tax Service Inc., prepares federal income tax returns for customers that unlawfully understate tax liabilities by claiming improper deductions for the business use of the home and for non-deductible personal expenses.

A Newark, N.J., federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Stephen A. Favato, a resident of Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., and a partner at a major international accounting firm, with tax charges for attempting to assist one of his clients evade income taxes. Favato, a partner in the accounting firm’s Woodbridge, N.J., office, was charged with tax evasion regarding the federal income taxes of Daniel Funsch and his spouse.

Steven Michael Rubinstein, of Boca Raton, Fla., has been charged, via criminal complaint, with filing a false income tax return. Rubinstein made his initial appearance this morning before Magistrate Judge Barry S. Seltzer in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The defendant was temporarily detained, pending a bond hearing scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Seltzer.

The United States has sued four Certified Public Accounts (CPA), 27 tax preparers and one other individual, seeking to bar them from promoting an alleged tax scam involving bogus income tax credits claimed for sham sales of methane from landfills.

A Trumbull, Conn., resident who was involved in operating three businesses in Brooklyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Krzysztof Koczon pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to conspiracy to aid another in filing false tax returns.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Gettlemen entered an order barring tax preparers, Michael J. Singleton and his wife, Ladonna Singleton, from preparing federal tax returns for others. The court’s ruling came after the Singletons failed to defend against the government’s allegations.

A federal court has barred a Chicago tax preparation firm, El Caminante, Inc. and its principal operator, Maria Colica, from preparing federal income tax returns claiming false tax credits. The company and Colica agreed to the injunction. The Government civil injunction complaint filed in the case alleged that Colica fraudulently claimed fuel tax credits for customers who were not entitled to them.

Following three and a half days of trial and 19 minutes of deliberations, a Gulfport, Miss., federal jury yesterday convicted Paul Richard Arceneaux, a resident of Church Point, La., of tax crimes. Arceneaux, who owned and operated Speedy Cash Inc. in Gulfport, was convicted of all counts of the indictment charging him with corruptly interfering with the Internal Revenue laws and failing to file his income tax returns for 2003 and 2004.

A woman from the Bronx, N.Y., pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to making false claims and mail fraud. The indictment alleged that between approximately May 1, 2003, and Feb. 28, 2005, Sharon Smith and others participated in a scheme to file false and fraudulent individual income tax returns in the names of individuals who were not entitled to the refunds that were claimed.

The Tax Division announced highlights of its work during the past year to defend and enforce the nation’s tax laws. The Tax Division has assisted the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in tracking down tax cheats who use offshore accounts, combating abusive tax shelters, stopping tax defiers and shutting down tax schemes and scams. During FY 2008, the Tax Division also successfully defended refund suits against the United States representing claims of nearly $803 million, and collected, through affirmative litigation, over $178 million.

Tax return preparer Lawrence Sperling pleaded guilty today to aiding in the preparation of false tax returns. Sperling was scheduled to begin trial on April 14, 2009 before Judge Deborah Chasanow in Greenbelt, Md. According to the indictment and the plea agreement, Sperling knowingly prepared tax returns for his clients that contained false and fraudulent items, including inflated medial expenses, charitable contributions, miscellaneous employment-related expenses, and child care credits.

Alexander Tajong, a Bronx, N.Y.-based return preparer, was charged today with twenty counts of willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of false income tax returns for 10 of his clients during the 2002 and 2003 tax years.

Robert Moran, of Lighthouse Point, Fla., pleaded guilty today to a criminal information charging him with filing a false income tax return. Moran appeared today before Judge James I. Cohn in Ft. Lauderdale and accepted responsibility for concealing more than $3 million in assets in a secret bank account at UBS in Switzerland.

A federal court has permanently barred Donald Morris of Bloomfield, Conn., from preparing federal income tax returns for others. Morris consented to the permanent injunction order, which was entered by U.S. District Court Judge Jane C. Hall in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Timothy Smith, a resident of Cullman, Ala., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Birmingham to one count of tax evasion, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

A federal grand jury has returned an 18-count superseding indictment charging Thomas E. Parenteau of Columbus, Ohio; Dennis G. Sartain of Hilliard, Ohio; and Bonnie Helt-Adams of Dublin, Ohio, with tax fraud, bank and wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

A federal court in Dallas has permanently barred a Garland, Texas, man from preparing federal tax returns for others. Lucky Ngo, who operated “Lucky’s Translation and Tax Service” and “Water Inn,” prepared over 6,100 federal tax returns for customers since 2004, according to the government complaint filed in the civil injunction case. Ngo agreed to the permanent injunction order.

Jerry R. Williamson, a promoter of the American Rights Litigators/Guiding Light of God Ministries (ARL) formerly based in Florida, pleaded guilty today to mail fraud. Williamson appeared today before Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. in Washington, D.C., and admitted that he that he sent a fictitious “Bill of Exchange” purporting to be drawn upon the U.S. Treasury to the Bureau of Land Management of the Department of the Interior.