Boston Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty to $2 Million Tax Fraud

BOSTON – The owner of a tax preparation business in Jamaica Plain pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to preparing false tax returns for his clients.

Joseph Rodriguez, 72, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding or assisting in filing a false tax return. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Sept. 12, 2023. Rodriguez was charged on Dec. 9, 2022. 

On numerous occasions between 2014 and 2017, Rodriguez prepared and filed federal income tax returns for clients that contained false, inflated and incorrect information. Rodriguez added false, inflated and ineligible expenses on his clients’ Schedules A for medical and dental expenses, charitable contributions and unreimbursed employee business expenses. By inflating Schedule A deductions, Rodriguez decreased his clients’ taxable income and effectively increased the clients’ tax refunds. As a result, Rodriguez caused more than $2 million in tax loss to the IRS.

The charge of aiding or assisting in filing a false tax return provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $100,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen A. Kearney of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.