Tax Trouble

December’s Amusing Tax Convictions

Just to be fair, we don’t usually see a lot of juicy stuff from Hawaii, but this month, we’ve finally got something! A federal grand jury in Honolulu returned an indictment charging Heidi Cafirma, of Waipahu, with filing false tax … Read More

The Scammers Keep Going         

 Imposter scams and online shopping top the Federal Trade Commission’s 2022 list of financial frauds.  A new August 2023 survey from GoBanking questioned more than 1,100 Americans aged 18 and older to find that huge numbers of people have been … Read More

November’s Amusing Tax Convictions

A federal grand jury in Denver returned an indictment charging Timothy McPhee of Colorado man and Larry Conner of Texas man with conspiring to defraud the United States and with assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns. According … Read More

October’s Amusing Tax Convictions

Last month, we led with a convoluted tax scheme, so why not keep the trend going!  Douglas K. Mittleider of Adairsville, Georgia, pleaded guilty to deceptively and actively hiding taxable income from long-term care facilities he operated throughout the U.S. … Read More

September’s Amusing Tax Convictions

In a bizarre, high-end tax scheme, a 34-count Federal indictment accuses Michael L. Meyer of Davie, Florida, of organizing and selling access to an illegal tax shelter called the Ultimate Tax Plan to assist high-income individuals in reducing their taxes.  … Read More

August’s Amusing Tax Convictions

Maybe it’s a new trend, but our usual source of news for tax crimes and the action of the Justice Department this month has rendered multiple cases and convictions from, of all things, failure to properly withhold and pay employee-based … Read More

July’s Amusing Tax Convictions

It’s amazing how often we see it in this industry, but it’s far more common – unscrupulous preparers.  A federal court in the Eastern District of New York has permanently enjoined a tax return preparer and her Brooklyn-based business from … Read More

June’s Amusing Tax Convictions

Sometimes, it pays to have a tax preparer with some courage! A Jackson, Mississippi, real estate broker pleaded guilty a false tax return on behalf of his business, Gulf States Royalty, Ltd.  Jeffrey Randall owned and operated an oil and … Read More

Watch Out For the Scammers!

As sure as school is out, we’ve seen the same old scams reimagined.  I’d thought the creativity had peaked a few years ago in the pandemic, but now?  Scammers have returned to their old “classics” and are – as always … Read More

May’s Amusing Tax Convictions

Well, last month was certainly a busy one, but it’s interesting to note that, despite the many convictions in the last few months of plenty of unscrupulous preparers, there’s still plenty of deceit to go around.  In Utah, Ashley James … Read More