New York Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Preparing False Tax Returns

A Staten Island, New York, tax return preparer and business owner pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York to preparing false federal income tax returns, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to court documents and statements, Alabi Gbangbala, 51, was the operator of Broadfield, a tax return preparation business located in Staten Island.  For tax years 2008 and 2009, Gbangbala prepared false individual income tax returns for Broadfield clients by, among other things, falsifying self-employment business receipts and losses on Schedules C and inflating or fabricating charitable contributions and unreimbursed employee expenses on Schedule A.  Gbangbala was responsible for filing false tax returns on behalf of his clients that resulted in at least a $178,000 tax loss to the U.S. Treasury. Gbangbala also filed false personal individual income tax returns for tax years 2008 through 2010, in which he failed to report his total income for each calendar year.

Gbangbala faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for one count of aiding and assisting the preparation of a false return at his Sept. 24 sentencing.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended the special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Christopher O’Donnell and Mark McDonald of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.  Ciraolo also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York for their assistance.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

Alabama Woman Pleads Guilty for Involvement in Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Ring

A Phenix City, Alabama, resident pleaded guilty today in the Middle District of Alabama for her role in a stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) scheme, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. of the Middle District of Alabama.

According to court documents, between March 2011 and May 2014, Teresa Floyd conspired with her daughter, Lasondra Miles Davis, and others to defraud the United States by filing false federal income tax returns using stolen identities.  Miles Davis obtained the means of identification of individuals without their authorization and provided the stolen identities to Floyd.  Floyd and her co-conspirators obtained Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the names of tax preparation businesses, which Floyd then used to file false tax returns with the stolen identities.  All of the false returns included fraudulent claims for tax refunds.  Floyd, Miles Davis and others cashed the refund checks at several companies in Alabama and Georgia, and Floyd deposited refund checks into her bank account.

Floyd faces a mandatory statutory sentence of two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft count and an additional statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the conspiracy count.  Both counts include a statutory maximum fine of $250,000.  Miles Davis pleaded guilty on April 10 to one count of aggravated identity theft and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 12.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Beck commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Michael C. Boteler and Michael P. Hatzimichalis of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross of the Middle District of Alabama, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.