Justice Department Seeks to Shut Down Florida Tax Preparer

The Justice Department announced today that it has sued a Kissimmee, Fla., tax return preparer, seeking to bar him permanently from preparing federal tax returns for others. The civil injunction suit, filed in Orlando, Fla., with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleges that Carlos A. Cabrera and his business – Cabrera Financial Group – prepare federal income tax returns for customers that claim improper losses for non-existent businesses and fabricated education credits in order to unlawfully understate customers’ tax liabilities.       

According to the civil injunction complaint, Cabrera prepared over 17,000 tax returns for 2009 and 2010, with an average tax understatement of $4,222 per return for returns the Internal Revenue Service examined. The government suit alleges that the total losses to the U.S. Treasury from Cabrera’s misconduct could be tens of millions of dollars for those two years alone.

This lawsuit is part of the Justice Department’s nationwide crackdown on tax scams, including the preparation of fraudulent federal tax returns. Over the last decade, the Justice Department has obtained hundreds of injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns.  More information about these cases and the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found on the Department’s web site.

Related Materials:

United States v. Carlos A. Cabrera

Complaint for Permanent Injunction and Other Relief (PDF)