Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Note: View order here.
Today, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued a preliminary injunction against Orlando area tax return preparers Juan Humberto Garcia, Marcos Yariel Figueroa, and Garcia’s tax return preparation business, The Tax Master of BVL Inc. (Defendants).
The court issued the injunction following a hearing where the government presented evidence that showed the Defendants engaged in a pattern of preparing and filing false returns that understated their customers’ federal income tax liabilities and claimed inflated tax refunds by:
- Fabricating medical expenses, charitable donations, and personal property taxes as deductions on Form 1040 Schedule A; and
- Fabricating or inflating business losses on Form 1040 Schedule C.
In granting the government’s motion, the court primarily relied on the deposition testimony from over a dozen of the Defendants’ customers who all testified that they did not know about the fraudulent deductions claimed by the Defendants. In addition to finding strong proof that the Defendants fabricated deductions and losses, the court determined that the government would face irreparable harm absent an injunction. The court noted in this regard that the Defendants continued to prepare fraudulent returns even after they were served with a copy of the government’s complaint.
The injunction bars Garcia, Figueroa, and The Tax Master from preparing and filing tax returns for others, working for or having an ownership stake in any tax return preparation business, and advising anyone about the preparation of a tax return.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Wu of the Civil Division’s Tax Litigation Branch made the announcement.
Attorney Franklin D. Sandrea-Rivero of the Tax Litigation Branch is handling this matter.
Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and ways to safeguard their personal information.
In the past decade, the Department of Justice has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Civil Division, Tax Litigation Branch with details.