Court Holds Former Detroit Tax Return Preparer in Contempt of Court for Violating Injunction Order

On Friday, a federal court in Detroit, Michigan, found Dieasha Davis in civil contempt of a permanent injunction barring her from operating a tax return preparation business and preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced. 

In the contempt order, Judge Denise Page Hood found that Davis continued to prepare federal income tax returns and profited from preparing tax returns in violation of the court’s injunction, which had been entered against her and the business on September 25, 2017. Davis and the business agreed to the 2017 civil injunction order.

In February, 2019, following an investigation of Davis’ activities, the United States presented to the district court what the court on Friday found was clear and convincing evidence that Davis had violated the injunction. The court entered an order requiring Davis to file a written response to show cause why she should not be held in civil contempt. Davis did not file any response.

Based on the evidence submitted by the United States, the court also found that tax returns Davis prepared in violation of the injunction contained false and fraudulent information after entry of the injunction.

In addition, the court ordered Davis to pay to the United States $24,671 for attorney fees and costs incurred in detecting Davis’ non-compliance and bringing her violations of the injunction to the court’s attention.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has information on its website about selecting a return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.