Preparer made false returns to increase clients’ tax refunds
A self-employed tax preparer who filed fraudulent tax returns for his customers was sentenced July 23, 2019, to one year in federal prison.
Serge Cibuyi, age 49, a naturalized United States citizen originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, currently residing in Moline, Illinois, received the prison term after an Oct. 25, 2018, guilty plea to one count of preparing and filing a false and fraudulent tax return, in violation of Title 26 U.S.C. § 7206.
In a plea agreement, Cibuyi admitted that, while living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he received an online certificate in tax-return preparation. Cibuyi admitted that when preparing returns for customers, he prepared fraudulent tax returns by claiming false deductions and credits or by inflating legitimate deductions and credits. As part of the scheme, Cibuyi paid individuals to allow Cibuyi to use their dependents on other taxpayers’ returns to boost refunds. Between 2014 and 2015, Cibuyi prepared and filed at least 36 false tax returns with a tax loss to the United States in excess of $100,000.
Cibuyi was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Defendant was sentenced to twelve months and one day imprisonment. He must also serve a one year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Cibuyi was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Justin Lightfoot and Matthew J. Cole and investigated by the Internal Revenue Service.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 18-CR-81.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
