James T. Jacks
Acting United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

FORMER OWNER OF MONTFORT TAX SERVICES AND JACKSON HUBBERT
TAX PREPARATION BUSINESS IN DALLAS AND FORT WORTH
ADMITS FILING FALSE CLAIMS FOR TAX CREDITS

Defendant Herbert Jena Faces Five Years in Prison

DALLAS — Herbert Jena pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to aiding and assisting in the making of false statements in the preparation of income tax returns, announced acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Jena owned tax preparation services called Montfort Tax Services and Jackson Hubbert, which were located throughout Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. In addition to owning the businesses, Jena also acted as a tax preparer.

Herbert Jena was arrested in June 2007 on charges outlined in a 20-countfederal indictment. According to the indictment, Jena is a Dallas resident. That indictment alleged that between January 12, 2007 and February 29, 2007, Jena filed approximately 1681 individual income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Of that number, according to the indictment, approximately 1400 contained fraudulent and false information.

Also charged in that indictment were co-defendants Aurora Perez and Nancy Munoz, who worked as tax preparers for Jena. Perez and Munoz each pled guilty in 2007 to a conspiracy charge, admitting their role in the scheme, and are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Solis on May 6, 2009. According to the indictment, both Perez and Munoz are Irving, Texas, residents.

While Jena acknowledged that he fully understands that the actual sentence he receives is solely at the discretion of the Court, according to documents filed with the Court, the government and Jena have agreed that a specific sentence of five years in prison is the appropriate custody sentence in this case. Jena may also be required to pay a fine of up to $500,000 and restitution to the IRS. That restitution will be in an amount to be determined by the Court as a result of all the fraudulent activity charged in the indictment, and will not be limited to the counts of conviction. Jena, who remains in federal custody, will also be sentenced on May 6, 2009, by Judge Solis.

Special Agent in Charge of IRS- Criminal Investigation, Dallas Field Office, Michael P. Lahey stated, “Taxpayers should choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer. It is the taxpayer whose name is on the return that will be responsible for paying the additional taxes, penalties and interest.”

According to the factual resume, Jena admitted that he caused false and fraudulent federal tax returns to be filed requesting inflated fraudulent tax refunds. He knew that they contained false information regarding taxpayers’ eligibility for tax refunds and credits under the Telephone Excise Tax Refund (TETR) and Fuel Tax Credit that the IRS offered only during the 2006 tax year. According to the indictment, of the approximately 1400 returns that Jena filed that contained fraudulent and false information, approximately 1200 contained requests for false TETR credits and approximately 774 contained requests for false Fuel Tax Credits.

At the sentencing hearing yesterday, the Government read into the record that the total amount of the TETR and Fuel Tax Credit fraudulent refund claims that Jena and others caused to be submitted by Montfort Tax Services and Jackson Hubbert to the IRS for tax year 2006 was approximately $2,784,025. As a result of those fraudulent refund claims, the IRS paid approximately $1,158,168 in fraudulent TETR and Fuel Tax Credit claims.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jacks praised the IRS-Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis.

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