Friday James of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was arrested today on federal tax fraud charges following the return of a sealed Indictment by a Federal Grand Jury in Philadelphia announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.

According to the indictment, James, the owner of Frika Tax Service, prepared materially false federal income tax returns for tax years 2008 and 2009 which claimed that his clients were entitled to the the First Time Homebuyer’s Credit, a refundable tax credit for homes purchased in 2008 and 2009 when many of the filers, for whom James had prepared tax returns, had not purchased homes and were thus not entitled to receive the tax credit. The returns prepared by James were also false because he included deductions for filers, under the category of unreimbursed employee business expenses, for filers who were not entitled to claim such expenses thus increasing the amount of the refunds claimed by the filers.

If convicted the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 81 years of imprisonment, a fine of $6.57 million, a special assessment of $2,700 and 1 year of supervised release. The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division in Philadelphia and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Floyd J. Miller.

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525

 

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