Justice Department Sues to Shut Down Kansas Tax Preparer

The United States has sued a Garden City, Kan., tax preparer, Jose Lares, seeking to permanently bar him from the tax-preparation business, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction suit, filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, alleges that Lares prepares returns through Dinero Rapido Tax Service, formerly known as Income Tax Dinero Rapido, in Garden City.

According to the government’s complaint, Lares claims false dependent exemptions and false filing statuses on customers’ returns. The complaint alleges that Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits of customers of Lares’s former company resulted in clients owing over $2 million. The complaint further states that IRS audits of customers of Lares’s current business, Dinero Rapido Tax Services, has revealed an average tax loss of over $6,000 per return.

Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 455 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department Web site.