#104: 03-01-06 Court Bars Ohio Man From Preparing Returns For Others

COURT BARS OHIO MAN FROM PREPARING RETURNS FOR OTHERS

Civil Injunction Order Follows Criminal Conviction

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced today that a federal court has barred Salvador G. Ruiz from preparing federal income tax returns for others. The government complaint filed in the civil injunction case alleges that Ruiz, of Lebanon, Ohio, prepared at least 47 false or fraudulent returns over the past several years claiming deductions for fabricated charitable contributions, business losses and expenses.

Earlier this year Ruiz was sentenced to 12 months in jail and 12 months of supervised release after pleading guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns. As part of his sentence, Ruiz is barred from preparing federal income tax returns for others during the period of his supervised release. The civil injunction order, entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, makes the ban permanent.

The case is part of the government’s ongoing crackdown on fraudulent return preparers. The Justice Department has filed more than 130 lawsuits seeking injunctions against return preparers who prepare fraudulent federal tax returns. More information about these cases is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2006.htm. More information about the Tax Division is available at: http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html.