Ohio Tax Return Preparer Sentenced to 24 Months in Prison for Preparing False Returns

WASHINGTON – Thierno M. Diallo of Cincinnati was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S District Court Judge Sandra Beckwith in Cincinnati for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.  

On Aug. 6, 2010, a jury found Diallo guilty of seven counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns. According to documents and testimony presented during the trial, for the 2005-2007 tax years, Diallo prepared materially false U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns (Forms 1040) for customers of his return preparation business, Madina Consulting Services. These returns caused the IRS to issue refunds that his customers were not entitled to receive. Witnesses testified that Diallo, a U.S. citizen originally from Guinea, used his knowledge of west African culture and language to recruit customers from other west African nations who live in the Cincinnati area. These witnesses testified that Diallo included false items on their returns without their knowledge.   

At sentencing, Judge Beckwith found that the intended tax loss to the government associated with this scheme was $95,370.  

In addition to the prison term, Judge Beckwith ordered Diallo to serve 1-year of supervised release. As a condition of supervised release, Judge Beckwith barred Diallo from engaging in the business of tax return preparation.  

Acting Assistant Attorney General John A. DiCicco of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Carter M. Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio commended IRS Criminal Investigation special agents who investigated the case and Tax Division Trial Attorney Melissa Siskind and Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Grimes, who prosecuted the case.  

More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at www.usdoj.gov/tax .