BOSTON - A Rhode Island tax return preparer was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Providence, R.I., on charges of preparing and filing fraudulent tax returns in the names of his clients.
Raymond P. Petrarca, 63, of West Warwick was charged with 44 counts of preparing false federal income tax returns.
According to the indictment, Petrarca owned and operated Stratus Financial Group, a tax preparation business located in Warwick. From at least 2011 through 2015, Petrarca allegedly prepared and filed falsified federal tax returns in his clients’ names by adding false and inflated deductions for home mortgage interest and charitable donations, as well as false and inflated credits for purported home energy improvements.
The charging statute provides for a sentence of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences for federal crimes are imposed by a federal district judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other sentencing factors.
Acting United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts William D. Weinreb; Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division; and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild of Weinreb’s Economic Crimes Unit and Trial Attorney Kimberly G. Ang of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
