Owner Of Tax Preparation Business Sentenced To Federal Prison

Montgomery, Alabama - Bruce King, the founder and operator of Premier Tax, was sentenced yesterday to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay $781,305 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for orchestrating a tax fraud scheme at his business, George L. Beck, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama announced. King had previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the United States and filing false tax returns.

According to court documents, Premier Tax was a tax preparation business operated by King that had several locations in Alabama and Georgia. King held training sessions in which he taught preparers how to falsify tax returns in order to fraudulently increase clients’ tax refunds. Those he taught went on to work at Premier Tax and filed numerous false tax returns. According to court documents, the tax loss caused by these fraudulent returns exceeded $1 million. To date, seven return preparers trained by King have also pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

“This case should serve as a warning to all of those criminals that file or attempt to file false tax returns to get increased tax refunds,” stated U.S. Attorney Beck. “We will continue to use our resources to investigate and prosecute those criminals and will work diligently to ensure that they receive the stiff prison sentences that they deserve.”

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the IRS - Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Jason Poole and Justin Gelfand of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant United States Attorney Jared Morris are prosecuting this case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at justice.gov/tax.

PRESS CONTACT: Clark Morris
Email: usaalm.press@usdoj.gov
Telephone: (334) 551-1755
Fax: (334) 223-7617