Birmingham Man Heads to Prison for Aiding Preparation of False Tax Returns
BIRMINGHAM – U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon today sentenced a Birmingham man to 15 months in prison for assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and IRS Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent in Charge Rodney E. Clarke announced.
DENNIS D. FRANKLIN, 47, pleaded guilty to the tax fraud in March. Franklin, who operated a tax preparation service in Jefferson County, admitted that he caused false tax returns for seven of his clients to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service for the tax years 2005-2007. Franklin must pay $34,031 in restitution to the IRS.
According to Franklin's plea agreement with the government, he manipulated 1040 and 1040A Tax Forms for the seven clients to reflect false filing status, number of dependents, expenses and/or child tax credits and submitted the forms to the IRS. The misrepresentations caused his clients to receive larger tax refunds than they were entitled to, and Franklin received a portion of the refunds, he admitted in his plea agreement.
IRS, Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and U.S. Postal Service investigated the case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Alabama prosecuted it.
