Lester Morrison had a great business going. His “Tax Prep” (also called “24 Hour Income Tax Refund Service”) was doing a bang-up business in the Bronx and across the river in New Jersey. Their clients were quite pleased with their refunds. Sure, much of the refunds went to the preparers but what’s not to like when you get money you don’t expect.
Mr. Morrison’s clients had children. Sometimes these were children who weren’t clients’ children and who had already died. Yes, Mr. Morrison and his co-conspirators took deceased children of others and put them on tax returns. And that was one of the more mundane things he did.
Some of the other practices detailed in the announcement of his guilty plea (last August) include phony business losses from fictitious businesses, non-existent charitable donations, false education credits, and phony child care tax credits.
We’re not talking peanuts here, either. The scheme netted $28 million from over 7,500 refunds…until it was caught. At his plea last August Mr. Morrison agreed to make restitution. Last week he was sentenced to six years at ClubFed; the restitution totals $17.3 million.
If your tax preparer puts a child you don’t know of on your return, that’s a big hint that something is wrong.
Tags: BozoTaxPreparer