Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MARK GOLDBERG, a Bronx-based tax preparer, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 57 months in prison for his participation in a scheme to file fraudulent tax returns on behalf of thousands of clients, falsely claiming more than $7 million in bogus deductions, including false school tuition credits and expenses. GOLDBERG pled guilty in August 2013 before Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, who also imposed today’s sentence.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Mark Goldberg prepared thousands of fraudulent tax returns that resulted in over $2.5 million in fraudulent refunds for his clients. Now he has to surrender the ill-gotten gains and his liberty."
According to the Indictment, statements made during court proceedings, and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court:
GOLDBERG ran a tax preparation and multi-service business named E&M Multi-Services, Inc. (“E&M") out of a storefront building in the Bronx. Through that business, he prepared, and oversaw the preparation of, thousands of federal and New York State tax returns that claimed false deductions, expenses, and credits, including tuition credits and expenses, unreimbursed employee business expenses, medical and dental expenses, charitable gifts, and earned income tax credits. Between 2005 and 2012, GOLDBERG caused the preparation and filing of tax returns for his clients that included over $7 million of fabricated and fraudulently-inflated deductions, resulting in over $2.5 million in refunds being paid to his clients to which they were not lawfully entitled. GOLDBERG also failed to report any of the income derived from his tax preparation activities, and further submitted fraudulent personal returns claiming bogus refunds and tax credits.
In addition to the prison term, Chief Judge Preska ordered GOLDBERG, 40, of the Bronx, to pay restitution in the amount of $2,597,419 to the United States and the State of New York for the losses caused as a result of his scheme, and to forfeit $500,000 in fees generated by GOLDBERG as part of his tax fraud scheme. Chief Judge Preska also sentenced GOLDBERG to three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay a special assessment of $300.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Mr. Bharara also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division and the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for their assistance.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Stanley J. Okula, Jr., and Paul Monteleoni, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jorge Almonte of the Tax Division are in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
