The United States has asked a federal court to permanently bar two Broward County, Fla., tax preparers and their business from preparing federal tax returns for others.

"We are blocking this transaction because the proposed merger would substantially lessen competition in the tax preparation software market, resulting in higher prices, lower quality and reduced innovation," said Assistant Attorney General Varney.

On Feb. 22, 2011, after a four-day trial, a jury in Montgomery, Ala., convicted Sharon Thurman of 14 counts of making false claims, two counts of theft of government money and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

The court’s preliminary injunction order against Shelia Young, Deane Young and Kennith Defoor will remain in effect while a related criminal case against the defendants proceeds in court.

Paul M. Daugerdas, Donna M. Guerin, Denis M. Field and David Parse were convicted today in Manhattan federal court for their roles in a tax shelter scheme in which they designed, marketed and implemented fraudulent tax shelters used by wealthy individuals to avoid paying taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

A federal court has permanently barred Martha A. Jones of Chicago from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Charles Alexander Davis formerly of Mooresville, N.C., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Charlotte, N.C., on 10 counts of willfully filing materially false tax returns and one count of obstructing and impeding the Internal Revenue Service.

A San Diego attorney was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Houston to 10 months in prison for evading taxes on at least $3 million in unreported income from 2000 to 2002.

A federal court has permanently barred two women from preparing federal income tax returns for others and from operating their tax preparation business.

Laura Barel of Lauderhill, Fla., has been charged with one count of filing a false claim and two counts of aiding and abetting the filing of a false claim.

A federal court in Ft. Meyers, Fla., has barred Gregory Boone of Riverview, Fla., from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme

Friday James, who according to the government complaint is from Landsdowne, Pa., and his business agreed to the permanent injunction order without admitting the allegations against them.

A Cincinnati man pleaded guilty yesterday to selling more than $1 million worth of counterfeit financial and tax preparation software through an Internet auction site.

Charles Hollie, a resident of Tyler, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider to 24 months in prison for filing false tax returns.

Inuka Rhaheed, owner of First Premium Financial Services and a former detective with the Fort Pierce, Fla., Police Department, and Wilens Bertrand, a tax preparer at First Premium, on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Laquanta Grant, a resident of Montgomery, Ala., has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to file false claims for refunds.

According to court findings, HedgeLender, which maintained offices in Philadelphia and Reston, Va., promoted a scheme purportedly allowing owners of appreciated stock to obtain cash through purported loans without reporting or paying tax on capital gains.

James E. Moss, who owned and operated “Flash Tax,” was charged with four of his employees by a grand jury sitting in Montgomery, Ala.

Betty Washington, a resident of Montgomery County, Ala., was sentenced today to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,440,632 for conspiring to file false claims for refunds.

Raymone Bain, a public relations specialist and the former general manager of the late pop star Michael Jackson, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Washington, D.C., to charges that she failed to file federal and District of Columbia income tax returns.

Kenneth H. Nix and Velma I. Salinas-Nix, both of Boerne, Texas, were indicted by a federal grand jury in San Antonio on a multi-count indictment alleging tax fraud and false statements to the U.S. government.

A Belarusian national and resident of Nantucket, Mass., was sentenced today in federal court to 41 months in prison for his participation in an international online scheme to steal income tax refunds from U.S. taxpayers around the country.

Dr. Arvind Ahuja of Greendale, Wis., was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Milwaukee on four counts of willfully filing materially false tax returns and four counts of failing to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.

The United States has sued an Orange County, Calif., man to stop him from selling bogus tax credits.

A federal court has permanently barred Aurelia Sanderson Johnson from preparing federal tax returns for others.

The United States has sued a Seattle-area man to stop him from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme.

The United States has filed a lawsuit in federal court in New Orleans seeking to bar two women and their tax preparation companies from preparing federal tax returns for others.

A federal court has permanently barred Tracey R. Randolph from preparing federal tax returns for others.

Reynaldo Orozco was sentenced to 18 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan for filing a false employment tax return.

A federal grand jury in Detroit returned an indictment against David A. Cusumano and Henry Nino in January 2011.

A federal court has permanently barred Charles Klink, Caleb Grodsky and Steven Block from promoting abusive tax shelters known as “intermediary transactions” and “distressed asset trusts.”

The Justice Department is seeking to block a husband and wife from operating a scheme that allegedly helps high-income individuals attempt to improperly avoid income taxes by funneling money through purported “welfare benefit plans.”

A federal court has permanently barred Penny Jones from preparing federal tax returns for others and from promoting the use of false tax forms.

A federal court has permanently barred Howard Musin, his wife Jill Schwartz-Musin and their three companies from preparing federal tax returns for others.

John Jackson, the former mayor of White Hall, Ala., was sentenced to two years in prison today, the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

Frank G. Bivings and Isabelle Blanco of Washington, D.C., co-owners of The Bivings Group Inc., pleaded guilty today to charges stemming from the failure to pay more than $2 million in employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

A District of Columbia federal court has entered a permanent injunction order against Steven McClain and the Trust for Architectural Easements Inc. (formerly known as the National Architectural Trust).

Mark D. Leitner entered a plea of guilty in the Northern District of Florida to filing false liens against federal law enforcement and corruptly endeavoring to impede and impair the Internal Revenue Service.

Peter Labovitz, of Alexandria, Va., pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to pay employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

A federal court has permanently barred Cecil A. Collier from preparing federal tax returns for others.

Thomas J. Ernst, formerly a resident of McLean and Arlington, Va., pleaded guilty to one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede and impair the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and one count of tax evasion for 2005.

Gino Carlucci and Wayne Mounts, both residents of Arizona, have been convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Justice and IRS announced today.

Martin Lack, a former UBS AG banker who is currently an independent asset manager, has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

A federal court in Los Angeles has permanently barred Benjamin Aparicio from preparing federal tax returns for others.

Robert E. Greeley, a resident of San Francisco, pleaded guilty today to charges of filing a false federal income tax return.

German A. Posada of Las Vegas pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro to charges of filing a false 2004 individual income tax return and making a false statement in a bankruptcy proceeding.

Nicholas J. Faranso of Farmington Hills, Mich., was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge John Corbett O’Meara in the Eastern District of Michigan to one year and one day in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States.

Yumeitrius Manuel and Margaret Kirksey, both of Montgomery, Ala., were indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges of conspiracy, identity theft, wire fraud, false claims and lying to federal agents.

The United States has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop Lakeisha Pearson from preparing federal tax returns for others.

Eric Bernard Caldwell, a resident of Montgomery County, Ala., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison.