A Colorado man has been permanently barred from preparing federal tax returns for others after a federal court issued a civil injunction order.
George Thomas Gaines of Aurora, Colorado, consented to the order, signed by Judge Robert E. Blackburn of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
The government complaint alleged that Gaines and his companies, G&G Tax Service and American Benefits, prepared federal income tax returns for customers that used fictitious businesses to claim false tax deductions and improper earned income tax credits.
According to the complaint, more than 96 percent of the audited tax returns prepared by Gaines between 2004 and 2007 understated his customers’ tax liabilities.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s “Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2011. In the past ten years, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of tax return preparers and tax fraud promoters.
Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website.
Gaines, whose companies prepared federal income tax returns for customers, was found to have understated tax liabilities by over 96 percent, according to the government complaint.
The permanent injunction bars Gaines from preparing federal tax returns for others, a significant blow to his business.
While the case is closed, the Justice Department continues to crack down on tax fraud and preparer schemes.
Related Federal Cases
- Dane Thomas Wilson, Wire Fraud and Willful Failure to File Federal Income Tax Return, Oklahoma 2011 · North Carolina
- James Spaulding, Mail Fraud and Filing False Tax Returns, Colorado 2014 · Iowa
- Kalena Latoya Winston, Tax Return Fraud Scheme, Missouri 2016 · Kansas
- Thomas Whitlow, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Wire Fraud, Nebraska 2015 · Kansas
- William Sears, Securities Fraud, Colorado 2016 · Colorado
Key Facts
- State: Colorado
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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