Gregory A. White, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today that a ten-count Indictment was filed against Darryl L. Adams, charging him with aiding and assisting the preparation and presentation of false income tax returns for clients. According to court records, Adams resides in Youngstown, Ohio.

According to the Indictment, Adams prepared approximately 29 false and fraudulent income tax returns for clients, which claimed income tax refunds that were greater than the actual refunds to which the clients were entitled. Adams allegedly falsified such returns in various manners, including: (a) reporting false deductions for medical expenses, charitable contributions, and tuition and fees; (b) claiming false and fictitious dependents and a false filing status, and (c) claiming false educational, child care, and earned income credits.

The Indictment further alleges that Adams filed the returns either electronically or by paper return on Form 1040A on behalf of the clients and, in some instances, arranged for the Internal Revenue Service to direct-deposit the refunds into a bank accounts he controlled. He then paid some clients only a portion of the client’s refund or kept the entire refund itself. In order to conceal the fact that the defendant had taken the clients’ refund, in some instances, the defendant gave the client a copy of a return that was not the return that the defendant submitted to the Internal Revenue Service on the client’s behalf.

The Indictment charges Adams with 10 separate counts of preparing false tax returns.

If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin J. Roberts, following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, Youngstown, Ohio.

An Indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.