JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES TO HALT ALLEGED FRAUDULENT TAX RETURN OPERATION IN LOUISIANA

Holden-Based Tax Return Preparer Allegedly Claimed To Be Former Irs Employee

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today asked a federal court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to permanently bar James E. Rosamond, of Holden, Louisiana, from preparing tax returns. The government’s complaint alleges that Rosamond, who does business as Taxes Done Rite, prepares tax returns that claim fraudulent refunds based on fictitious or inflated deductions, including fictitious or inflated medical and/or dental expenses, charitable contributions, unreimbursed employee business expenses, and other “miscellaneous” deductions.

According to the complaint, Rosamond misleads his customers into believing that he is a former IRS employee with special knowledge of available deductions that is not readily available to the general public. The government projects that Rosamond’s alleged fraudulent tax preparation scheme has understated his customers’ federal income tax liability by more than $6.7 million since 2002.

“People who prepare false returns or claims for refund are cheating not just the federal treasury, but all law-abiding taxpayers,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “We are committed to stopping fraudulent tax return preparers and identifying their customers.”

The complaint also seeks an order requiring Rosamond to provide the Justice Department the names, Social Security numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of his customers.

More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.

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