Fraudulent Tax Return Preparer Sentenced to Prison

The U.S. Department of Justice reports in its press release (quotation, not an independent finding): “WASHINGTON - DaJuan Jackson, a former tax return preparer in District Heights, Md., was sentenced to 51 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus for preparing false tax returns for customers, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. In November 2008, a Greenbelt, Md., jury convicted Jackson of eight counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns. Jackson’s co-defendant, Rodrick Williams, pled guilty to conspiracy to impede the IRS in May 2008. According to the evidence introduced at trial, Jackson and Williams, both currently of Atlanta, prepared tax returns at a branch office of American Tax Associates Inc. (ATA), located in a Run ’N Shoot gym in District Heights, Md. Jackson and Williams were the two main preparers in the branch office, which was responsible for preparing almost 1,000 tax returns per year at the height of its business in 2004. Williams cooperated with the government, and at trial, he testified that he and Jackson devised a scheme to place false information on the tax returns of ATA clients. In particular, Jackson and Williams falsified itemized deductions and business expenses so clients could fraudulently obtain bigger refunds. Williams is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Titus on Feb. 23, 2009. Acting Assistant Attorney General John DiCicco commended the IRS special agents who investigated the case, as well as Tax Division trial attorneys Jerrod Patterson and Shawn Noud who prosecuted the case. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforce”