Criminals get more and more creative with ways to scam taxpayers and commit tax fraud. TaxPro Today recently published a list of recent scams that have been uncovered. Here are a few of the most interesting.
- Brother and sister tax preparers in Jesup, Georgia pleaded guilty for their roles in a stolen ID and tax fraud scheme. Gregory Allen and Leisha Allen operated a fraudulent business, where they filed hundreds of fraudulent returns to illegally obtain refunds. The returns were e-filed using the stolen names and Social Security numbers of people who were either incarcerated or dead. They filed for more than $2 million in fraudulent refunds.
- A Philadelphia tax preparer, Dauda Koroma, pleaded guilty to charges in a scheme falsely listing foster and disabled kids as dependents on clients’ returns. He was one of nine people charged in the case, and he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, filing false tax returns, fraud and aggravated ID theft. Authorities say that the scheme lasted from 2008 to April 2013 and that Koroma defrauded the government of between $2.5 million and $7 million in false refunds.
- In Dallas, tax preparer Ousmane Sow pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a fraudulent return. Sow was indicted in 2007 on federal felony charges and remained a fugitive until this month. From 2003 to 2005, he and co-defendant Tichafara Mpariwa provided tax preparation services through a business they jointly owned and operated. From 2003 to 2005, according to authorities, Sow prepared and filed federal individual returns, schedules and forms that contained phony credits and deductions to inflate clients’ refunds, including using false business and education expenses to create a false education credit. Mpariwa is still wanted, and remains at large.
Fraud isn’t the best way to make a living.