ITS Financial LLC, Tax Fraud, Ohio 2013

According to a recent investigation, ITS Financial LLC, parent company of the Instant Tax Service franchise located in Dayton, Ohio, was involved in a massive tax fraud scheme.

The company, along with its owner Fesum Ogbazion, was accused of violating federal tax laws, particularly where their fraudulent activity could harm individual customers or drain the U.S. Treasury.

Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally for the Tax Division stated, "During the time when honest taxpayers are preparing their returns, the Tax Division will work tirelessly to challenge those who would abuse the tax laws and take advantage of their customers."

The division’s enforcement efforts targeted both large-scale return preparation franchises and smaller, independent return preparers and promoters.

As a result of the investigation, ITS Financial LLC was ordered to cease operating, and Fesum Ogbazion was permanently barred from operating or being involved with any business relating to tax-return preparation.

The court found that the defendants’ harm to the public was extensive and egregious, and especially so given the nature of Instant Tax Service’s core customer – the working poor, who are particularly vulnerable to fraudulent practices.

The division’s enforcement efforts have been ongoing, with the Tax Division obtaining permanent injunctions against over 60 preparers and promoters doing business all over the United States.

The return filing deadline for the 2013 tax year is just over two months away on April 15, 2014, and the division will continue to work hard to shut down these abusive schemes and scams and punish the perpetrators where appropriate.

Other tax return preparation businesses and individual preparers around the country have also been subject to injunctions shutting down their business, including those in Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and California.

The division also obtained injunctions against a number of fraudulent tax-scheme promoters, including Tobias Elsass and his companies, who were permanently barred from preparing federal tax returns, promoting the availability of theft loss deductions or engaging in any other tax-related business.

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