Cross References
- www.justice.gov

On February 14, 2020, a federal court in Ocala Florida entered a permanent injunction against Philip Mott Harris II and his business, 24/7 Tax Services LLC, barring them from preparing federal tax returns for others and owning or operating a tax preparation business. The court also ordered that Harris and 24/7 Tax Services LLC disgorge $544,874.56, representing gains they received for the preparation of tax returns. The government alleged the defendants prepared tax returns on which the defendants fabricated businesses and related business income and expenses, claimed improper filing status, and reported false household help income.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana issued an order permanently barring Daniel Bewley, a former Hobart and Lake Station Indiana tax preparer from preparing federal tax returns for others. Bewley consented to the civil injunction order. According to the complaint, Bewley operated a business that provided tax return preparation services under the names Bewley’s Tax Service and Forward Motion Tax Service. The complaint alleges that Bewley prepared returns that falsely understated the tax due by including false Schedules C that understated the amount of the customer’s income and false Schedules A that contained inflated deductions.

A Macon Mississippi tax return preparer was sentenced to 16 months in prison for aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false tax return. According to court documents and statements made in court, from approximately January 2012 through April 2016, Shelleen Ivory-Farmer managed ABS Tax Services, a tax preparation business in Macon and falsified clients’ tax returns by claiming false education credits, itemized deductions, and business and farming losses to fraudulently increase client IRS refunds through the firm. The total tax loss caused by Ivory-Farmer was more than $1.1 million. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Ivory-Farmer was ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay $236,887 in restitution to the U.S.

A West Palm Beach Florida tax return preparer was sentenced to 90 months in prison for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns and theft of government funds. According to the evidence presented at trial, from at least 2012 to 2016, Paul Senat was the owner and operator of multiple tax return preparation businesses in the Palm Beach area and falsified his clients’ returns by reporting fictitious business losses and education credits in order to fraudulently inflate their refunds. Senat also stole a federal tax refund check worth nearly $10,000. At sentencing, the judge found that Senat caused a tax loss of more than $3.5 million to the United States. In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Ruiz ordered Senat to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $9,779 in restitution to the United States.