WASHINGTON—The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, has permanently barred Joseph Flickinger from preparing federal tax returns for others. The order was entered by Judge John R. Adams of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
The complaint alleged that Joseph Flickinger and his twin brother, Edward, helped customers submit false and frivolous documents to their employers to stop tax withholding from wages, on the false theory that income earned in the United States is not taxable. Edward Flickinger was previously barred by Judge Adams from promoting this tax-fraud scheme. Joseph Flickinger is already serving a federal criminal sentence for his role in promoting this tax-fraud scheme and is scheduled to be released from federal prison on July 23, 2009.
The order requires Flickinger to turn over to the Department of Justice the names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of all persons to whom he sold this scheme, and of all persons who assisted him in marketing the scheme.
Since 2001, the Justice Department has sought and obtained injunctions against more than 180 tax fraud promoters and fraudulent return preparers. Information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html. More information about this case is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv05660.htm.
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