Tessa M. Gorman, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington
The owner of a Vancouver, Washington-based tax preparation business has been sentenced to nine months in prison for tax fraud. Saul Valdez, who ran the business aimed at assisting immigrants, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. The court also ordered four months of electronic home confinement following his prison term.
Valdez operated as an unlicensed tax preparer from 2016 to 2018, during which he misled clients into believing their tax forms were correctly filled out. Instead, he included false deductions and expenses on the returns to lower their tax obligations. "This is a serious offense... deterrence drives this case," stated U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle during sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman commented on the impact of Valdez's actions: “This defendant built his business by obtaining inflated tax refunds for clients who had little understanding of the U.S. tax system.” Some clients faced back taxes, fees, and penalties due to the fraudulent filings.
Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office, noted that Valdez exploited credits intended for low-income taxpayers, resulting in over $23,000 in penalties for his clients. Jobes urged vigilance among those seeking tax preparers and advised reporting dishonest practices.
Records indicate that Valdez used software like TaxAct and TurboTax at his business Conexion Latina to prepare taxes. For the 2017 tax year alone, he admitted to filing false claims on 36 returns with a tax loss totaling $54,045—the restitution amount he has agreed to pay.
Further investigation revealed a total estimated tax loss of $1,293,921 from around 2,000 returns prepared by Valdez between 2016 and 2018.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kristine Foerster.
