DALLAS - Christopher Lee DeLeon of Allen, Texas, who was one of several tax preparers at Tax Genius in Garland, Texas, appeared in federal court this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney and pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a fraudulent tax return, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Sentencing is set for Jan. 10, 2018, before Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn. DeLeon faces a statutory maximum penalty of three years in federal prison and a $100,000 fine. He may also be ordered to pay restitution.
On Sept. 21, 2016, DeLeon and co-defendants Jimmy Luis Briseno, Rene N. Barrera, Sr. and Mike Cano were charged with conspiracy to defraud the IRS and other charges related to the filing of false tax returns. According to the factual resume filed in the case, from January 2011 through February 2012, DeLeon worked as a tax return preparer with Briseno, Barrera, and Cano at Tax Genius offices in Richardson and Garland, Texas. In his plea papers, DeLeon admitted that DeLeon, Briseno, Barrera and Cano all routinely prepared and caused to be electronically filed with the IRS individual income tax returns that contained one or more of the following falsely inflated or fictitious items: false Forms Schedule C; false and fabricated Education Credits, and false items used to inflate and maximize the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on the tax return. DeLeon also stated that co-defendants Briseno and Barrera trained DeLeon in how to file false tax returns in 2011 and 2012. During this period, DeLeon and his co-defendants caused false and fraudulent information and documents to be submitted to the IRS with the intent to fraudulently cause the IRS to pay refunds based on this false tax information.
DeLeon caused the filing of eight false tax returns resulting in a tax loss of $60,618 due to false refunds claimed.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis is in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
