Tax Preparer Fails to Face Bond Hearing

A Detroit tax preparer, Matthew Bender, has been convicted of failing to appear at a bond hearing on July 2, 2013, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

According to court documents, Bender, 47, was on pretrial release for federal tax charges when a warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to show up for his bond hearing. The trial revealed that Bender attended a family reunion in Ohio and flew to Texas in the summer of 2013, only to be apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service on Aug. 13, 2013.

Bender’s latest conviction comes after a jury trial, where the evidence showed that he caused his customers’ tax refunds to be inflated by placing false deductions on their returns. He was previously convicted by another Detroit jury in March 2014 of obstructing the IRS and nine counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income tax returns.

The evidence in the 2014 trial revealed that Bender prepared over 3,000 tax returns between 2006 and 2011 and earned over $500,000 in tax preparation fees. However, Bender failed to report his own income to the IRS, either by filing false tax returns for himself or by failing to file his own tax returns at all.

Bender remains detained pending sentencing for his convictions. The case was investigated by special agents of IRS–Criminal Investigation and TIGTA. Trial Attorneys Kenneth Vert and Jeffrey McLellan for the Justice Department’s Tax Division prosecuted the case.

The investigation and prosecution of Bender’s case highlights the importance of holding tax preparers accountable for their actions and ensuring that they comply with the law.

Bender’s sentencing is scheduled to take place at a later date. He faces serious consequences for his actions, which demonstrate a blatant disregard for the law and the trust placed in him by his customers.

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