A brazen scheme to swindle the IRS has landed a Texas tax preparer behind bars. Carlos Hinojosa, 37, was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison for filing fraudulent client tax returns.
According to court documents, Hinojosa worked alongside co-conspirators Mario Jose Sanchez, 48, and Magda Lopez-Sanchez, 51, at Miguelitos Tax Service in Carrolton, Texas. The trio pleaded guilty to assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns this summer.
Between 2012 and 2016, the defendants prepared tax returns that included false statements, such as tuition expenses designed to make clients appear eligible for education credits they didn’t qualify for. Hinojosa admitted to including these false expenses on tax returns without the clients’ knowledge.
To conceal the falsity of the returns, the defendants attempted to have clients sign forms justifying the expenses, but most clients had no idea what they were signing. Hinojosa also charged clients cash for preparing their returns, sometimes up to $2,000, without informing them that Miguelitos would deduct a tax preparation fee from their tax refunds.
The defendants’ actions, along with those of co-conspirators at Miguelitos, resulted in a staggering tax loss of $7,306,191 to the Internal Revenue Service for tax years 2010 through 2016.
U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade ordered each of the defendants to pay more than $6 million in restitution, joint and severally, to the IRS. Sanchez and Lopez-Sanchez were each sentenced to three years’ probation.
The investigation was conducted by the IRS Criminal Investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas Brasher and Andrew Wirmani (fmr.) prosecuting the case.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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