A North Carolina man has been brought to justice for his role in a tax evasion scheme.
Nicholas Laws, a former office manager and return preparer at Tax Mind’s Winston-Salem branch, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for assisting in the preparation of a false tax return and for filing a false personal income tax return.
According to court documents, Laws trained and supervised other Tax Mind return preparers, reviewed tax returns, and filed completed returns from 2014 to 2019. He prepared fraudulent returns for clients that reported false wages and business income to increase clients’ refunds, and also edited some returns prepared by other Tax Mind preparers to include similar fraudulent information.
Laws charged fees, which occasionally exceeded $1,000, to prepare false returns.
In addition to his preparation of false client returns, Laws also filed a false personal income tax return for 2014 and did not file returns reporting his income for 2015 through 2019, despite being required to do so by law. Laws intended to cause a tax loss to the IRS of $2,934,891.
U.S. District Judge William L. Osteen ordered Laws to serve one year of supervised release and to pay approximately $184,072 in restitution to the United States.
The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Trial Attorney Brian Flanagan and Kevin Schneider of the Tax Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cliff Barrett of the Middle District of North Carolina.
The sentencing of Nicholas Laws serves as a reminder of the importance of honesty and integrity in the tax preparation industry.
MANDATORY FACTS:
1. Defendant/respondent real full name or legal entity name: Nicholas Laws
2. Exact criminal charges: Assisting in the preparation of a false tax return and for filing a false personal income tax return
3. City and state: Durham, North Carolina
4. Exact date with month/day/year: Not specified in the press release
5. Sentence or outcome: 33 months in prison, one year of supervised release, $184,072 in restitution
6. Dollar amounts where applicable: $2,934,891 in intended tax loss, $184,072 in restitution
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Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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