April 7, 2004 - United States Attorney Patrick L. Meehan today announced the filing of a one-count Information* charging RICHARD THOMAS in Count One with making false claims and aiding, abetting and willfully causing the making of false claims, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 287.

According to the Information, THOMAS caused false claims for fraudulent tax returns of at least $298,828. THOMAS did so by submitting and causing the submission of fraudulent Form W-2s to various Electronic Return Organizations approved by the Internal Revenue Service, knowing that those EROs would thereby cause claims for tax returns to be made to the Internal Revenue Service based on the fraudulent Form W-2s.


DEFENDANT
ADDRESS


AGE [Date of Birth]
RICHARD THOMAS
2031 North 62nd Street
Philadelphia, PA
35

If convicted, THOMAS faces a maximum term of 5 years imprisonment, a 3 year period of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $300 special assessment. This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service.

The case has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Todd Schulman.

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
EASTERN DISTRICT, PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106		 Contact:
RICH MANIERI
Media Contact
215.861.8525
*An Indictment or Information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.