Federal Court Permanently Bars Orange County Based Tax Preparer from Preparing Federal Tax Returns

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Federal Court Permanently Bars Orange County Based Tax Preparer from Preparing Federal Tax Returns

ORANGE COUNTY,  California Monday, March 21, 2016, ---- The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has permanently barred Stacy John Sanchez of Orange County, California, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

The civil injunction order prohibits Sanchez from acting as a federal tax return preparer and from owning, operating, or profiting from tax-return preparation businesses.  Sanchez agreed to the entry of the injunction but did not admit the allegations in the civil complaint against him.

According to the complaint, Sanchez owned and operated 12 Liberty Tax Service franchise locations, primarily in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas areas.  At these locations, Sanchez and his employees prepared federal income tax returns that, among other things, contained bogus Schedules C (Profit or Loss From Business), fake Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) information and falsely claimed dependents, the suit alleged.  These fraudulent returns improperly generated federal income tax refunds and tax credits, such as the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Credit, for Sanchez’s clients, according to the complaint.

In addition, the complaint alleged that Sanchez and his employees prepared fraudulent income tax returns using stolen names and social security numbers and kept the bogus refunds generated by these identity theft returns.  The estimated loss to the U.S. Treasury from Sanchez and his employees’ misconduct is at least $14 million, according to the complaint.

[Republished from United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, Office of Public Affairs]

If you are a victim and/or had a tax return prepared by Stacy John Sanchez or any of her associates, you may want to seek legal advice from an experienced tax attorney, knowledgeable in the area of tax fraud.

Julie Vance
Media Relations
Wilson Tax Law Group, APLC
Newport Beach, California
949-397-2292