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Boris Shadari, 46, pleaded guilty to a slew of fraud charges earlier this year, the Department of Justice said. A judge sentenced him on Tuesday, Aug. 2, to 30 months in prison. He must also repay $496,082, prosecutors said. His co-conspirator Christian Zynga, a former bank manager, pleaded guilty to the scheme as well.
The U.S. Attorney accused Shadari and Zynga of running a tax return scam on several Congolese immigrants in Boston. According to prosecutors, the duo offered to help members of that community with their tax filings, but the men would lie on IRS forms by inflating the amount of money that person earned or the number of dependents they had. This would boost the size of their refund, but the two men would siphon off that extra money for themselves. It put their victims in potential legal trouble without them realizing it.
When Shadari found out federal authorities were investigating him, he told one woman whom police would make her pay back thousands of dollars and could deport her if she cooperated, prosecutors said.
“In a scheme that was difficult to detect, Boris Shadari took advantage of dozens of hard-working members of his own community, betrayed their trust, and defrauded taxpayers in the process, all the while raking in almost half a million dollars for himself,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “Also troubling is Mr. Shadari’s attempt to intimidate one of his victims into lying to investigators. While today’s sentence holds him accountable for his criminal conduct, it also underscores the need for all of us to exercise due diligence when choosing a tax preparer."
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