Littleton Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For False Tax Return Preparation

DENVER — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces Thuan Bui, 60, of Littleton, Colorado, was sentenced to the statutory maximum of 36 months in federal prison, one year of supervised release, and a $50,000 fine, after pleading guilty to one count of aiding or assisting in preparation of false documents.

According to the plea agreement, from about 2016 to 2021, Bui operated a tax preparation business that operated under several names. Bui falsely told his clients he was a certified public accountant. During that time, and on hundreds of tax returns, Bui understated his clients’ tax liability by overstating or falsely creating expenses on the Schedule C form which is used to report income or loss on a business.

“This defendant willfully and repeatedly abused his clients’ trust when his job was to  help them accurately file their annual tax returns,” said Acting United States Attorney J. Bishop Grewell. “I encourage all taxpayers to be vigilant during the ongoing tax season to make sure their information is captured and reported accurately.”

“Tax preparers are entrusted to file accurate and truthful tax returns on behalf of their clients to ensure they are meeting their tax obligations,” said Amanda Prestegard, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigations Denver Field Office. “Bui violated that trust and federal tax laws in the process. Identifying these fraudulent preparers remains a top priority for IRS-CI and we will continue holding them accountable.”

United States District Court Judge Regina M. Rodriguez presided over the sentencing.

The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Weber handled the prosecution.