Willie C. Grant, a Bibb County, Ga., tax return preparer who owned and operated “Grant Income Tax Bookkeeping and Check Cash,” was indicted on Mar. 15, 2012, by a federal grand jury with 23 counts of making false claims for tax refunds, four counts of theft of government money and four counts of aggravated identity theft, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. The indictment was unsealed yesterday.
According to the indictment, Grant knowingly used the names and Social Security numbers of individuals to steal tax refunds from the IRS without lawful authority. The indictment further alleges that Grant directed the IRS to pay tax refunds intended for other people into his bank account. An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Grant faces a minimum of two years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft, a potential maximum of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for each false claims count, and a maximum of ten years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for each theft of government money count.
An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Justin Gelfand and Charles Edgar Jr.
More information about the Department of Justice Tax Division and its enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/tax.
Source: US Department of Justice
