Man Indicted For Preparing False Tax Returns

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Gnoan Pierre Kablan was indicted on April 9 on 16 felony counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent tax returns, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s New York Field Office. On each count, Kablan faces a maximum imprisonment term of 3 years, a maximum fine of $100,000, a special assessment of $100, and a maximum term of supervised release of 1 year. As part of any sentence, Kablan may also be ordered to pay to the Treasury Department an amount equaling the tax loss that his conduct is found to have caused.

Kablan, 52, of Latham, was arraigned in Albany on April 13 before the Honorable Randolph F. Treece, United States Magistrate Judge, and released on his own recognizance pending a trial scheduled for June 15 before the Honorable Mae D’Agostino, United States District Court Judge.

According to the indictment, Kablan, a tax preparer working in Rensselaer County during the relevant time period, prepared at least 16 tax returns for 2008 through 2011 containing false deductions for charitable gifts, false deductions for unreimbursed employee expenses, and false solar property or energy efficiency credits that gave his taxpayer clients refunds that they were not entitled to.

"The defendant allegedly prepared tax returns that resulted in a tax loss to the U.S. Treasury Department because his clients were not entitled to the deductions and credits that they claimed," stated United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. "This being tax-paying season, now is a good time for our citizens to remember that willfully filing a false return can result in civil and criminal liability."

"The investigation of unscrupulous tax return preparers remains a priority for the Internal Revenue Service," said Shantelle P. Kitchen, IRS Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s New York Field Office. "We will vigorously pursue the prosecution of them with our partners in the United States Attorney’s Office."

The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Assistant United States Attorney Michael Barnett is prosecuting this case, which is being investigated by the New York Field Office of the IRS-Criminal Investigation.