NEWARK, N.J. - A Kissimmee, Florida, man was convicted at trial today of tax fraud, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Sixto Rodriguez, 55, was found guilty of all 17 counts of an indictment charging him with three counts of filing false tax returns on behalf of himself and fourteen counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns on behalf of his tax preparation clients. He was convicted following a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From 2004 through 2012, Rodriguez operated a tax preparation business in Teaneck, New Jersey, by the name of 1-2-3 Taxes. Rodriguez personally met with clients, prepared their individual income tax returns and filed the returns with the IRS.
Rodriguez inflated education credits, charitable donations, unreimbursed business expenses and rental losses that he knew his clients had not actually incurred. On average, for the clients charged in the indictment, this resulted in his clients receiving more than $4,000 in refunds per return, to which they were not entitled. Rodriguez also failed to report more than $230,000 in net profits he made from his business from 2007 through 2009 and personally avoided paying more than $89,000 in taxes as a result.
The charges on which Rodriguez was convicted each carry a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 21, 2018.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson, with the investigation leading to today’s conviction.
The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Daniel V. Shapiro of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark and Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Eskew, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
