North Carolina Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the IRS

A Raleigh, North Carolina, resident pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the United States announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr. for the Eastern District of North Carolina. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, Garvey Imhotep conspired with others to file false tax returns for the tax years 2011 through 2014 for clients of Tax Kings, Two Brothers Tax Service, and Taxes Done Right. Imhotep and his co-conspirators filed returns claiming false education expenses and other fraudulent items in order to increase clients’ tax refunds. Imhotep used tax preparer identification numbers, associated with other individuals, in order to conceal his involvement and avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Sentencing is scheduled for October 2019. Imhotep faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. He also faces substantial monetary penalties, supervised release and restitution.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Higdon commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Assistant United States Attorney Ethan Ontjes and Trial Attorney Lauren Castaldi of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting this case. 

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.