Orlando tax preparer faces prison for inflating refunds in fraud scheme

FLORIDA — An Orlando tax return preparer has been sentenced to federal prison for false tax returns prepared and filed over three years, costing the US close to a million dollars, said the US Department of Justice.

Phedson Dore was sentenced to two years in prison last week for conspiring to defraud the United States by preparing and filing false tax returns for clients. He pleaded guilty in October 2023.

According to court documents and statements, from 2017 through 2020, Mr Dore and his co-conspirator filed hundreds of false returns annually while operating Empire Tax Services. Empire had locations in Orlando on West Oak Ridge Road and South Orange Blossom Trail.

Dore reportedly inflated federal income tax withholdings and reported fictitious itemized deductions to generate refunds for clients to which they were not entitled. To conceal his participation in the fraud, Mr Dore did not always list on the returns his name as the person who prepared them or include Empire’s electronic filing number (EFIN), the DOJ said.

Instead, he is said to have used his employees’ names and the EFINS of other return preparation businesses.

According to the DOJ, Dore and his co-conspirator caused a loss to the IRS of approximately $970,000.US

In addition to the term of imprisonment, US District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. ordered Mr Dore to serve two years of supervised release and to pay approximately $970,976.00 in restitution to the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and US Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Brian Flanagan and Marissa Brodney of the Tax Division and Assistant US Attorneys Courtney Richardson-Jones and Shannon Laurie for the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case.

The DOJ says taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers guidance on the credentials and qualifications taxpayers should seek from their return preparer.