A Baltimore, Maryland, tax return preparer was sentenced today to serve 20 months in prison for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns for others, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
On February 8, following a five day trial, a federal jury convicted Charles Imariagbe of 15 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns. According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial, between 2008 and 2012, Imariagbe operated a tax preparation business in Baltimore called JC Tax Service Inc. During that time, Imariagbe prepared false individual income tax returns for at least seven clients for submission to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). These tax returns claimed false and fraudulent income and expenses from Schedule C businesses and grossly inflated or wholly fictitious mileage expenses. The false items on these returns resulted in the clients receiving larger tax refunds than they were entitled to receive. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander ordered Imariagbe to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $151,927.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended the special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case and Trial Attorneys Andrew Kameros and Brittney Campbell of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case. Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.
Source: US Department of Justice
