FEDERAL COURT BARS FT. LAUDERDALE MAN FROM PREPARING TAX RETURNS FOR OTHERS

Business Allegedly Helped Customers Evade Taxes

WASHINGTON. – A federal judge in Ft. Lauderdale has permanently barred Joshua Chikudo from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order was entered in a lawsuit in which the Justice Department alleged that Chikudo, who operates Quick Return Tax Services and Income Tax Services, prepares federal income tax returns claiming fraudulent fuel tax credits.

According to the government complaint in the suit, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) identified at least 350 federal tax returns Chikudo prepared claiming a total of more than $1 million in fraudulent fuel tax credits. Chikudo also allegedly prepared returns with bogus telephone excise tax refund claims and a number of other false claims. More information and a copy of the complaint are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07594.htm.

The court order requires Chikudo to mail a copy of the injunction to all persons for whom he has prepared a federal tax return or form since 2004 and to provide the government with a list of his customers’ names, addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers.

The Justice Department obtained injunctions earlier this year against tax preparers in Miami and Dallas who allegedly claimed similar fraudulent fuel tax credits. More information about these cases can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07254.htm and http://10.173.2.10/tax/txdv07487.htm.

Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 280 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.