Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Feds Sue Colorado Tax Preparer, Alleging $55M in Bogus Refund Claims

From Bizjournals.com:

The U.S. Justice Department has sued a Colorado tax preparer, alleging he made at least 141 claims for fraudulent refunds for clients totaling more than $55 million.

In the civil complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver, federal authorities seek an injunction barring Curtis L. Morris of Elizabeth, and his company, Numbers and Beyond, from preparing and filing tax returns.

Morris has not been charged with a crime.

According to the complaint, Morris filed fraudulent refund claims on behalf of clients in Colorado, California, Arizona, and New Mexico in 2008 and 2009.

It says the returns Morris prepared for the customers "fabricate the amount of federal income tax withheld," and that he sometimes filed false Forms 1099-OID with the IRS to support fraudulent claims.

"In reality, Morris' scheme fraudulently reports that tax was withheld on behalf of his customers and then claims refunds based on that non-existent withholding," the complaint said.

One bogus refund request totaled $1.7 million, the complaint says. Officials said the IRS issued $1.9 million in erroneous refunds as a result of Morris' filings.