BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Maung No, 27, of Seattle, Washington, who was convicted of filing over 1000 false tax returns, was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara. The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $2,323, 122.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross, who handled the case, stated that No was employed as a tax return preparer for VPS Income Tax in 2011 and BTC Income Tax in 2012. The fee charged for an income tax preparation was 10% percent of the tax refund amount plus bank fees. For the 2011 tax year, the defendant prepared returns for approximately 565 clients and claimed an education credit of $1,358, an American Opportunity Credit of $2,000 and a Federal Fuel Tax Credit of $183 on each return without the knowledge of the clients. No knew that the credits were false and that the clients were not entitled to claim such credits. As a result, clients received a larger federal income tax refund than they were entitled to, resulting in a loss of $3,543 to the Internal Revenue Service. The defendant continued to conduct similar actions for approximately 574 additional taxpayers resulting in a loss to the Internal Revenue Service of $1,129,319.
No also prepared tax returns for the 2012 tax year in the same fashion which resulted in a loss to the Internal Revenue Service totaling $1,202,803. The total number of fraudulent tax returns prepared by No was approximately 1,138 for a total loss to the IRS of $2,332,122.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
