Silver Spring Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty To Making A False Statement On A Tax Return

Greenbelt, Maryland – Alejandro A. Salas, age 65, of Silver Spring, Maryland pleaded guilty today to making a false statement on a tax return.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Kelly of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.

“Mr. Salas’ license to run his business was not a license to engage in fraud,” said Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office. “The defendant's misconduct of underreporting his income from his tax preparation business was purely fraudulent. IRS Criminal Investigation will use our investigative and financial expertise to detect and hold accountable individuals like Mr. Salas, who carry out these types of fraudulent schemes.”

According to his plea agreement, from 2004 to 2008, Salas ran a tax return preparation business in Silver Spring, Maryland, under the name of G&S Enterprises of Maryland (G&S).  His business also offered translation services, provided accounting and bookkeeping services for local companies, facilitated international money transfers, brokered mortgage loans, and offered travel agency services.  In 2009, after learning that he was the target of a criminal investigation, Salasmoved the location of his business and began preparing tax returns for clients under the corporate name TAX USA, a business which he incorporated under the name of another individual.  Between 2004 and 2009, Salas’s business prepared over 15,700 tax returns for clients.

Salas admitted that for tax years 2003 through 2005, he underreported the income from his tax preparation business on his individual income tax returns; and underreported the income from the business on the corporate tax return he filed for the 2006 tax year.  For example, on Schedule C of his 2005 income tax return, Salaslisted thegross income from his sole proprietorship as $295,537, when in fact, the gross income from his business substantially exceeded that amount. For tax years 2007 through 2009, Salas failed to file either corporate or individual tax returns.  The total tax loss to the government as a result of Salas’ actions is at least $200,000.

Salas faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000. U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus has scheduled sentencing for June 10, 2013 at 3:00 p.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the IRS-CI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sujit Raman, who is prosecuting the case.