JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES TO PERMANENTLY BAR ALLEGED FRAUDULENT TAX RETURN OPERATION

Hialeah, Florida Business Allegedly Fabricates Education Credits and Other Deductions To Secure Fraudulent Refunds For Customers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department filed suit today asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to permanently bar Lilia A. Gomez and her company, 1 Tax Prep, Inc., from preparing federal tax returns. According to the complaint, Gomez and her company prepared tax returns that claim fabricated deductions and other filing information. An examination by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) found that, between November 2003 and February 2004, 95 percent of the education credits claimed on tax returns prepared by Gomez and her company could not be substantiated.

The government alleges that the defendants’ scheme involved knowingly ignoring or modifying information provided by their clients for the purpose of claiming false deductions, credits, and other information on their clients’ tax returns. The government estimates in the complaint that this alleged fraudulent tax preparation scheme by Gomez and her company has resulted in an understatement of their customers’ federal income tax liabilities of more than $7.2 million for returns that they prepared in 2003 and 2004 alone.

This civil injunction case is part of the Justice Department’s nationwide crackdown on tax scams, including the preparation of fraudulent federal tax returns.

The complaint also seeks an order requiring Gomez and her company to provide the Justice Department with the names, Social Security or taxpayer identification numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of their customers.

Since 2001, the Justice Department has obtained more than 210 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.