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Tax Fraud

Holiday Deals Or Fraud? IRS Issues Warning For These Scams Holiday Deals Or Fraud? IRS Issues Warning For These Scams
Holiday Deals Or Fraud? IRS Issues Warning For These Scams As the holiday shopping season begins, the IRS reminds everyone that it’s not just your credit card balance you need to watch — it’s also your personal information. As part of its ninth annual National Tax Security Awareness Week, the IRS is warning taxpayers about a rise in holiday scams.  The scammers aren’t interested in gifts under your tree; they’re after your Social Security number and financial information instead. Here’s how scammers are getting creative—and how you can stay safe: Phishing Emails: Be wary of emails pretending to be from reputable retailers, shipping companie…
Former NY Rep Paralyzed After Horse Accident Receiving Treatment In NJ: Report Former NY Rep Paralyzed After Horse Accident Receiving Treatment In NJ: Report
Former NY Rep Paralyzed After Horse Accident Receiving Treatment In NJ: Report Former New York Congressman Michael Grimm has been left paralyzed from the chest down after a severe horse-riding accident during a polo tournament, and is being treated in New Jersey, CBS News reports citing a friend of Grimm's.  Grimm, age 54, was thrown from his horse in September and is now undergoing treatment at the renowned Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, which has locations in West Orange, Saddle Brook, Chester, and Marlton.  Headquartered in West Orange, Kessler is where actor Christopher Reeve was treated following a similar accident in 1995, and was…
Union County Man Pleads Guilty To Preparing Phony Tax Returns: Feds Union County Man Pleads Guilty To Preparing Phony Tax Returns: Feds
Union County Man Pleads Guilty To Preparing Phony Tax Returns: Feds A 59-year-old Union man admitted to preparing phony tax returns to help his clients get improperly large refunds on Thursday, Oct. 10, authorities said. From tax years 2018 through 2021, Emmanuel Amenyo ran a tax preparation business in which he prepared and submitted individual tax returns to the IRS on behalf of clients, US Attorney Phillip Sellinger said.  Amenyo filed numerous false tax returns on behalf of his clients and subscribed to false tax returns with respect to his own taxes, Sellinger said. These tax returns falsely claimed charitable contributions, itemized deductions, c…
CPA Firefighting Hero From Bergen Admits Role In $650,000 Tax Dodge CPA Firefighting Hero From Bergen Admits Role In $650,000 Tax Dodge
CPA Firefighting Hero From Bergen Admits Role In $650,000 Tax Dodge 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A decorated veteran Bergen County firefighter admitted in federal court on Wednesday that he and his business partner conducted a blatant tax dodge on behalf of a bunch of construction companies that employed their New York accounting firm. Jack N. Sardis, 66, of Englewood Cliffs admitted that he schemed to con the IRS with his partner, George Sanossian, 70, of Scarsdale, out of a small CPA office in a massive Westchester County shopping center. Sardis also offered to do business elsewhere, telling one client "I can meet you at my firehouse,” according to an IRS complaint. The clie…
Bronx Tax Preparer 'The Magician' Busted By IRS In Record $100M Fraud Bronx Tax Preparer 'The Magician' Busted By IRS In Record $100M Fraud
Bronx Tax Preparer 'The Magician' Busted By IRS In Record $100M Fraud A Bronx tax preparer known as "The Magician" was arrested by IRS agents for a $100 million tax fraud that federal authorities said was one of the largest ripoffs of its kind. Rafael Alvarez, 60, submitted thousands of bogus tax returns over a 10-year period, Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. It was one of the single biggest tax ripoffs by a single tax preparer in history, federal authorities announced on "Tax Day" Monday, April 15. And it allowed Alvarez to pull in $15 million in revenue in just three years, Williams said. It also won Alvarez his sleight-of…
Family Ran Multimillion-Dollar Cathouse At Sayreville Strip Club, New Indictment Alleges Family Ran Multimillion-Dollar Cathouse At Sayreville Strip Club, New Indictment Alleges
Family Ran Multimillion-Dollar Cathouse At Sayreville Strip Club, New Indictment Alleges UPDATE: A fierce battle between a Middlesex County family and authorities who've charged them with operating a wildly lucrative whorehouse masquerading as a strip club intensified with a new round of charges. The owners of Club XXXV on Route 35 in Sayreville used “various illegal means to turn their club into a multimillion-dollar racket (that) doubled as a house of prostitution,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said a superseding indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton alleges. More than $10 million in proceeds from the business “moved through numerous bank accounts c…
IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion
IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion It wasn't long after the government began offering COVID relief loans three years ago that IRS investigators were hot on the tails of scammers. Since then, agents with IRS Criminal Investigation have pursued 975 tax and money-laundering cases nationwide involving $3.2 billion worth of fraudulently obtained loans, credits and payments meant to help American workers, families, and small businesses who were rocked by the pandemic. Over that time, IRS-CI has kept its conviction rate at nearly 100%, federal authorities say. It has produced indictments against 458 defendants, …
NJ Tax Preparer Admits Helping Dozens Of Clients Cheat IRS Out Of $500,000 NJ Tax Preparer Admits Helping Dozens Of Clients Cheat IRS Out Of $500,000
NJ Tax Preparer Admits Helping Dozens Of Clients Cheat IRS Out Of $500,000 A Union County tax preparer admitted that she helped dozens of clients cheat the government out of nearly a half-million dollars, federal authorities said. Nehemie Leon, of Roselle, worked for Preferred Tax Choice in Irvington, records show. While there, Leon admitted in court, she “fabricated and inflated” certain tax credits, itemized deductions, expenses, and exemptions for a host of clients, said Tammy Tomlins, the acting special agent in charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Newark Field Office. Altogether, Leon prepared more than 100 individual returns for 31 clients, Tomlins said. …
Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients
Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients UPDATE: A confessed ID scammer from Tenafly was sentenced to two years and two days in federal prison for posing as 18 different people to collect tax refunds, authorities said. Emmanuel A. Barrientos-Fermin, 39, must serve all of the term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Barrientos-Fermin previously admitted in US. District Court in Newark that he gave an unnamed co-conspirator a photo of himself that was used to produce bogus driver’s licenses with his picture on them. The co-conspirator also gave him matching Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and W-2 forms …
Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town
Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town A New Jersey woman was convicted of participating in a massive ID theft scheme that had $565,091 in tax refunds from the IRS sent to a small section of the same town. Awilda Henriquez, 35, took her chances with a trial after three of her accomplices took guilty pleas. She was found guilty in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday of 27 counts involving defrauding the federal government, mail theft, stealing government money and aggravated ID theft, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Ring members filed more than 3,300 tax returns in 2013 using the names and Social Security numbe…
Ex-Newark Officer Who Took Payoffs To Protect Prostitutes Gets Nearly 4 Years In Fed Pen Ex-Newark Officer Who Took Payoffs To Protect Prostitutes Gets Nearly 4 Years In Fed Pen
Ex-Newark Officer Who Took Payoffs To Protect Prostitutes Gets Nearly 4 Years In Fed Pen A retired Newark police veteran who admitted pocketing tens of thousands of dollars to protect city whorehouses while he was on the beat was sentenced to a little under four years in federal prison. Julio I. Rivera, 52, of Old Bridge, not only looked the other way: He also promised to have fellow officers do the same and agreed to crack down on a paying brothel owner's competitor, authorities said. Rivera pulled down between $200 and $800 a week from the operators, according to a 14-count indictment on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. The indictment charged Rivera with several counts…
NJ Man Stole Nearly $57K From Hackettstown Livestock Auction, Prosecutor Says NJ Man Stole Nearly $57K From Hackettstown Livestock Auction, Prosecutor Says
NJ Man Stole Nearly $57K From Hackettstown Livestock Auction, Prosecutor Says A New Jersey man was charged after stealing nearly $57,000 from Hackettstown Livestock Auction Cooperative, authorities said. Howard Hoffman, 66, of Annandale, was charged with theft by unlawful taking and filing a false tax return on Wednesday, according to the Warren County Prosector's Office. The prosecutor's office launched an investigation after cooperative members told them that they were missing approximately $57,000 in cash payments due from customers for livestock purchased at auction between 2016 and 2017. Hoffman, the cooperative's auction master, was responsible for t…
NJ Man Convicted In $1.3M 'Mortgage Recovery' Scheme NJ Man Convicted In $1.3M 'Mortgage Recovery' Scheme
NJ Man Convicted In $1.3M 'Mortgage Recovery' Scheme A South Jersey man was convicted in federal court for his role in a scheme to defraud the IRS of more than $3 million. Jurors in U.S. District Court in Camden agreed that John Barry Jr., of Pemberton and accomplices in New York and elsewhere doctored tax returns that helped clients eliminate outstanding mortgage debts by claiming that a substantial amount of taxes had already been withheld. In exchange, Barry collected 20 to 35 percent of the refunds and split the money with his co-conspirators, federal prosecutors said. (Barry also didn’t file his own 2016 return or report any of his ill-…
Jersey Shore Contractor Admits Ducking $609,668 In Employment, Personal Income Taxes Jersey Shore Contractor Admits Ducking $609,668 In Employment, Personal Income Taxes
Jersey Shore Contractor Admits Ducking $609,668 In Employment, Personal Income Taxes The owner of a Jersey Shore construction and demolition company admitted in federal court Wednesday that he ducked employment and personal income taxes. Peter Alvarez, 54, of Atlantic Highlands didn’t report income from clients’ checks that he cashed and then used, in part, to pay employees at Mr. Demo, a construction and demolition business that he owned and operated in Leonardo, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Rather than face a trial, Alvarez took a deal from federal prosecutors. In exchange for leniency, the Middletown native pleaded guilty to evading employment and person…
NJ Con Man Who Swindled Elderly Out Of $2M Headed To Fed Pen NJ Con Man Who Swindled Elderly Out Of $2M Headed To Fed Pen
NJ Con Man Who Swindled Elderly Out Of $2M Headed To Fed Pen A confessed Somerset County con man is headed to federal prison for 6½ years for swindling elderly investors out of $2 million that he used, in part, to pay for his daughter’s college tuition and sorority fees. For nearly a decade, ex-financial advisor Daniel Rivera, 51, told primarily elderly investors that his Robbins Lane Properties was “staffed by experienced real estate professionals, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Rivera promised a “guaranteed monthly income” thanks to a rate of return based on secure investments, she added. The truth, Honig said, was: “Robbins Lane had …
Jersey Shore Bookie Admits Running Own ‘Pick Six’ Lottery, Cash Prizes Topped $100,000 Jersey Shore Bookie Admits Running Own ‘Pick Six’ Lottery, Cash Prizes Topped $100,000
Jersey Shore Bookie Admits Running Own ‘Pick Six’ Lottery, Cash Prizes Topped $100,000 A Jersey Shore bookmaker admitted in federal court on Tuesday that he operated his own lottery game in Hudson County using the numbers from the New Jersey Lottery Pick Six to award winners. Up to 8,000 participants at a time selected six numbers from 1 to 49 at $20 a pop, Edward O’Neill, 54, told a U.S. District Court judge in Newark. The sole winner of the illegal lottery was whoever matched all six numbers selected in the official Pick Six drawing. Prizes often exceeded $100,000, said O’Neill, of Beachwood, who skimmed a 10% vig off the total bets. Like bookies of days past, O’Neill per…
Prosecutor: Former Warren County Municipal Tax Collector, 50, Stole Payments Totaling $824K Prosecutor: Former Warren County Municipal Tax Collector, 50, Stole Payments Totaling $824K
Prosecutor: Former Warren County Municipal Tax Collector, 50, Stole Payments Totaling $824K A Warren County woman admitted stealing more than $800,000 in payments while working as a municipal tax collector for three townships, authorities said. Rachellyn Mosher, 50, misappropriated a total of $824,000 from taxpayers in White, Harmony and Lopatcong Township between 2013 and 2018, Prosecutor James L. Pfeiffer said in a joint release. Mosher, of Lopatcong, pleaded guilty to official misconduct in Hunterdon County Superior Court Wednesday, Pfeiffer said. She is required as per a plea agreement to spend five years in state prison with a four-year mandatory minimum before the poss…
SCAM ALERT: Don't Let Sketchy Tax Preparer Rip You Off, IRS Warns SCAM ALERT: Don't Let Sketchy Tax Preparer Rip You Off, IRS Warns
Scam ALERT: Don't Let Sketchy Tax Preparer Rip You Off, IRS Warns The IRS began accepting and processing 2020 tax year returns on Friday -- with a warning. Although most tax preparers deliver honest and professional service, “there’s a small number of dishonest preparers who set up shop during filing season to steal money and personal and financial information from clients,” said Michael Montanez, the special agent in charges of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Newark Field Office. Look no further than the results of some his squad’s year-round investigative work. The most recent example is Joseph Kenny Batts, a tax preparer in New Jersey who was sentence…
NJ Tax Preparer Gets 5 Years In Fed Pen For $1.6M IRS Scam NJ Tax Preparer Gets 5 Years In Fed Pen For $1.6M IRS Scam
NJ Tax Preparer Gets 5 Years In Fed Pen For $1.6M IRS Scam A twice-convicted tax preparer who helped New Jersey clients scam the IRS out of $1.6 million is headed to federal prison for the next five years. Joseph Kenny Batts, 52, of Elkridge, MD became the third of five men sentenced for preparing bogus tax returns at Tax Pro’s and Tax Solutions & Associates in Essex and Union counties. Batts, who already had a federal tax fraud conviction on his record, was the only one of the group to go to trial. U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp convicted him of conspiracy to defraud the United States, as well as five counts of aiding in preparing fals…
Atlantic City Man Gets 6½ Years In Fed Pen For $2.5 Million Tax Fraud Atlantic City Man Gets 6½ Years In Fed Pen For $2.5 Million Tax Fraud
Atlantic City Man Gets 6½ Years In Fed Pen For $2.5 Million Tax Fraud An Atlantic City man was sentenced to 6½ years in federal prison for running a $2.5 million “mortgage recovery” tax scam. Kenneth Crawford Jr. will have to serve just about all of the sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. The judge also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release and pay $1,393,511 in restitution to the United States. Crawford led a ring that obtained refunds from the IRS for clients who were facing foreclosure or behind on their mortgage payments and weren’t entitled to them, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Crawford and his accom…
Jersey Shore Pizzeria Owner Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Ducking $425,000 In Taxes Jersey Shore Pizzeria Owner Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Ducking $425,000 In Taxes
Jersey Shore Pizzeria Owner Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Ducking $425,000 In Taxes The owner of a Wildwood Crest pizzeria must serve a plea-bargained 15 months in federal prison for filing false income tax returns, authorities said. Giuseppe D’Arancio, 61, of Cape May Court House must serve the entire term handed down Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Camden because there's no parole in the federal prison system. He also must spend a year of supervised release and pay $507,246 in restitution to the IRS under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez. D'Arancio and a co-owner of Sal's Pizza on New Jersey Avenue "kept two sets of acco…
Feds Charge Former Local Party Committee Chairman With Lying On Tax Returns, Student Aid Apps Feds Charge Former Local Party Committee Chairman With Lying On Tax Returns, Student Aid Apps
Feds Charge Former Local Party Committee Chairman With Lying On Tax Returns, Student Aid Apps A public relations specialist and former local Democratic chairman from Union County lied both on his tax returns and on requests for student aid for one of his children, a federal grand jury indictment returned Tuesday alleges. The IRS originally charged Anthony Salters, 58, of Hillside earlier this year with filing a false federal income tax return in 2013 by stating that his business, Media Allies LLC, had no income. In fact, the IRS said, Salters and Media Allies had “substantial gross receipts” in 2013, including $104,411 worth of checks from, among others, the City of Orange the Pate…
Rotten To The Corps: Fort Lee Man Gets 6 Years For Using Stolen Military IDs To Get Tax Refunds Rotten To The Corps: Fort Lee Man Gets 6 Years For Using Stolen Military IDs To Get Tax Refunds
Rotten To The Corps: Fort Lee Man Gets 6 Years For Using Stolen Military IDs To Get Tax Refunds A Fort Lee man who got tax refunds by stealing current and former military members’ identities must spend the next six years in federal prison. Shope Oluwo, 35, has to serve the entire plea-bargained sentence handed by Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton on Friday because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Oluwo conspired with others to steal personal identifying information from current or former members of the U.S. Army and create fake military identification cards and fraudulent W-2 forms bearing the victims’ names, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. In a…
IRS: Fairview Painting Contractor From North Bergen Cheated On Taxes IRS: Fairview Painting Contractor From North Bergen Cheated On Taxes
IRS: Fairview Painting Contractor From North Bergen Cheated On Taxes A contractor from North Bergen admitted filing false federal tax returns for his painting company. Nicola Marchese, 48, pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark to two counts of the crime in exchange for leniency at a March 24 sentencing, the IRS said. Marchese’s Napoli Painting Services, on Kamena Street in Fairview, has boasted some major projects since it was created in 1977 – among them, the Trump Building in Jersey City and The Tapestry and Prospero Hall in Manhattan, according to its website. “With this year’s filing season just around the corner, [this] guilty plea is a reminder t…
Maplewood Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty To Fraud Maplewood Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty To Fraud
Maplewood Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty To Fraud A woman who ran a Maplewood tax preparation business has admitted helping a client defraud the government in order to obtain tax refunds, the US Attorney's Office said Monday.  Zenobia Williams, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the IRS in Newark federal court. She is scheduled to be sentenced in April.  In 2016, her company, Maplewood Business Services, prepared a return for a New Jersey business owner reporting false labor expenses for the 2015 tax year.  On January 5, 2016, Williams sent the business owner a text message, stating, “Hey Fella, I have 1 client rig…
E. Orange Couple, Several From Jersey City Charged In Hawaii Tax Refund Scam E. Orange Couple, Several From Jersey City Charged In Hawaii Tax Refund Scam
E. Orange Couple, Several From Jersey City Charged In Hawaii Tax Refund Scam A woman who ran a Jersey City tax preparation service and her husband have pleaded guilty in a scheme to obtain fraudulent tax refunds by filing dozens of bogus returns, sometimes in the names of dead people, with the states of New Jersey and Hawaii, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Friday.  Several others also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced to probation. State officials say a crew of family and friends helped carry out the fraud.  They were nabbed in Operation Coast to Coast, which was carried out by a number of state agencies, including the Division of Taxation and t…
Ex-State Trooper Gets 30 Months For Tax Fraud, Other Offenses Ex-State Trooper Gets 30 Months For Tax Fraud, Other Offenses
Ex-State Trooper Gets 30 Months For Tax Fraud, Other Offenses A State Police sergeant who also owned a Plainfield tax preparation business was sentenced to 30 months in prison for defrauding the IRS and other offenses, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said.  Samuel Davis Jr., 54, previously pleaded guilty to charges that also included filing false returns and witness tampering.  Davis owned Get Organized Tax & Accounting and was also a member of the State Police, from which he retired in 2016 after 28 years of service. Between 2011 and 2016, Davis and Kyna Felder-Ruiz fabricated educational credits, claimed false deductions a…
Essex Preparer Convicted In $900,000 Tax Scam Essex Preparer Convicted In $900,000 Tax Scam
Essex Preparer Convicted In $900,000 Tax Scam An Essex County tax preparer with a fraud conviction already on his record was found guilty of obtaining $900,000 in illegal returns for clients. Joseph Kenny Batts, 50, of Elkridge, MD went to trial after four associates pleaded guilty in the federal conspiracy case. He was convicted of conspiring to defraud the United States and five counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income tax returns. Batts and co-conspirator Damien Askew operated Tax Pro’s, a tax return preparation and payroll business in West Orange for nearly six years, federal authorities said. In o…
Newark Merchant Admits Taking Part In $3.5 Million Food Stamp Scam Newark Merchant Admits Taking Part In $3.5 Million Food Stamp Scam
Newark Merchant Admits Taking Part In $3.5 Million Food Stamp Scam The former manager of a Newark supermarket admitted taking part in a multi-million scheme to defraud the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said.  Juan Pedorno ran M&R Supermarket from October 2015 to September 2018, a period when the market was accepting SNAP payments via specially issued debit cards. The federally funded SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps, allows users to purchase food but the benefit cannot be exchanged for cash.  But authorities say Pedorno, along with his son Jose, did just that, exchan…
Montvale Tax Preparer Gets 6 Years In Federal Pen For Collecting Returns With Dead Man's ID Montvale Tax Preparer Gets 6 Years In Federal Pen For Collecting Returns With Dead Man's ID
Montvale Tax Preparer Gets 6 Years In Federal Pen For Collecting Returns With Dead Man's ID A tax preparer from Montvale was sentenced Tuesday to six years in federal prison for using a dead man's identity and a Las Vegas P.O. box to illegally collect refunds from the IRS -- while he was already awaiting trial on charges of helping scam the government out of more than $1.6 million. Wayne Dunich-Kolb, 54, must serve the entire term because there is no parole in the federal prison system. From 2006-2008, Dunich-Kolb grossed $500,000 to $657,000 per year – but claimed a total of only $400 for 2006, $526 for 2007 and $489 for 2008 on his own federal income tax returns, U.S. Attorney C…
Another Person Pleads Guilty In $1M Tax Refund Scam Another Person Pleads Guilty In $1M Tax Refund Scam
Another Person Pleads Guilty In $1M Tax Refund Scam One more defendant accused of belonging to a ring that used identities stolen from residents of Puerto Rican and elsewhere to obtain fraudulent tax refunds has pleaded guilty, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Wellington Feliz, 36, of the Bronx, was charged with theft of government property and aggravated identity theft. Feliz admitted that he and the others in the scam received more than $1 million fraudulent income tax refunds using the stolen identities, which they used to fill out 1040 tax returns. The scammers falsified information such as wages earned and the amount of taxes withheld …