Slidell Man, John Labee, Sentenced For Crimes Involving The Preparation Of False Tax Documents And Lying To A Grand Jury

U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite announced that JOHN LABEE, 36, a resident of Slidell, Louisiana, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier to 46 months imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.  In addition, LABEE was ordered to pay $412,781 in restitution.  On December 12, 2013, LABEE plead guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax documents, lying on personal income tax returns, and making false declarations before the Grand Jury.  

According to court documents, LABEE owned and operated several tax preparation companies, including Millenium Bookkeeping Services (“Millenium” [sic]) and IP Financial Services (“IP”), which prepared the taxes of numerous clients.  As a regular part of his business, LABEE prepared tax returns that contained false or fraudulent information for his clients, including false W-2s that fabricated the amount of federal income tax that had been withheld and inflated business expenses and deductions.   LABEE’S conduct resulted in an intended loss to the United States of approximately $2,242,121 of federal income tax withholdings.  Between 2007 and 2012, LABEE also under-reported his gross receipts from his tax business and over-reported the amount of federal income tax that he withheld from his income, resulting in a failure to pay approximately $163,457 in federal taxes personally.

Additionally, on March 13, 2013, LABEE appeared before a federal grand jury and, after being placed under oath, answered numerous questions.  In particular, LABEE stated that in 2013, he had not prepared any tax returns other than his own.  In fact, LABEE continued operating his tax return preparation business in 2013, including preparing and filing a tax return for “J.C.”  LABEE’S preparation work with J.C. included numerous meetings and correspondence with “J.C.” between January 2013 and February 14, 2013, less than one month before he testified before the federal grand jury.

“The fraud perpetrated by John Labee and the related losses had far-reaching effects on the tax paying citizens of this community.  IRS – Criminal Investigation is working very hard to expose the tactics of unscrupulous return preparers that make victims of their clients and the federal government,” stated Samuel Zechenelly, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS – Criminal Investigation.  “I would also like to thank Mr. Polite and Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg for their work toward the prosecution of this case.”  

The case was investigated by agents with the Internal Revenue Service and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg.