Department of Justice SealDepartment of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 2, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TAX
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

San Diego Area Tax Return Preparers Permanently Shut Down by Federal Court

Rebecca Tyree, Roosevelt Kyle, COA Financial Group LLC and Eagle Financial Services Barred from Preparing Tax Returns for Others

WASHINGTON – A federal court in San Diego has permanently barred COA Financial Group, Eagle Financial Services, Roosevelt Kyle and Rebecca Tyree from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The United States sued Tyree and Kyle and their businesses in November 2007, alleging that they prepared fraudulent tax returns for customers. In February of this year the court preliminarily enjoined Kyle from preparing tax returns.

Orders permanently enjoining Kyle, COA Financial Group and Eagle Financial Services, were signed by Chief Judge Irma E. Gonzalez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in July and September of 2008. Judge Gonzalez signed the permanent injunction against Tyree Wednesday.

The permanent injunction order against Kyle noted that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examined more than 200 returns prepared between 2002 and 2007 by Kyle, COA Financial Group and Eagle Financial Services. All but approximately eight of those returns understated the customer’s tax liability. The court found that COA Financial Group and Eagle Financial Services "intentionally and/or recklessly understated customers’ tax liabilities by including fabricated or inflated deductions" on their returns.

The court noted that in 2007 Kyle fabricated deductions for employee business expenses and charitable contributions on a tax return he prepared for an undercover IRS agent posing as a customer. The court said the IRS estimated that Kyle, COA Financial Group and Eagle Financial Services caused tax losses totaling $18 million.

"The Justice Department is committed to aggressively pursuing injunctions to shut down fraudulent tax preparers," said Nathan J. Hochman, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. "Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against more than 355 tax fraud promoters and unscrupulous tax preparers." Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department Web site.

Hochman thanked Justice Department trial attorney John Monroe and revenue agent Shereen Hawkins of the IRS’s Small Business/Self Employed Division for their efforts in obtaining the injunction.

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