A North Carolina man pleaded guilty today to preparing false tax returns for clients. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, Montanna Gore of Garner provided tax return preparation services from his cell phone store in Fayetteville from at least 2013 through 2018.  Gore reported false items on clients’ tax returns in order to inflate the tax refunds they would receive.  He also fraudulently claimed education credits on his personal tax returns for 2015 and 2016. Gore did not file tax returns for himself for 2017 and 2018, even though he continued to earn income by preparing returns for clients in those years. In total, Gore’s conduct caused a tax loss to the IRS of over $1.7 million. 

Gore is scheduled to be sentenced on May 23 and faces a statutory maximum of three years in prison.  He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Mitchell Galloway, Michael L. Jones, and Andrew Ascencio of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

Original source can be found here