COURT BARS MISSISSIPPI MAN FROM PARTICIPATING IN TAX RETURN PREPARATION BUSINESS

Gulf Coast Return Preparer Allegedly Fabricated Tax Deductions

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced today that a federal court has permanently barred Ray Robert Ladner, of Pass Christian, Mississippi, from acting as an income tax return preparer. The permanent injunction, to which Ladner consented, was entered by Judge Walter J. Gex III of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

According to the government complaint, Ladner—operating under the names Professional Accounting Services, Inc., Professional Associates, Inc., Ladner’s Accounting Service, Inc., Express Refund Tax Service, and Coast Accounting & Tax Service, Inc.—prepared returns for customers claiming deductions for fabricated charitable contributions and fabricated business expenses. The government suit also accused Ladner of fraudulently using the names and Social Security numbers of some customers to claim exemptions on other unrelated customers’ tax returns.

The permanent injunction requires Ladner to notify his customers of the injunction and to give the Justice Department the names, addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers of his customers.

The case is part of an ongoing crackdown on fraudulent return preparers. The Justice Department has sought and obtained injunctions against more than 175 return preparers and tax fraud promoters. More information about these cases is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2006.htm. More information about the Tax Division is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html.