Owner Of Jacksonville Tax Return Preparation Firm Sentenced To Federal Prison

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Adrian George (41, Jacksonville) to 15 months in federal prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to aid in the preparation and presentation of fraudulent tax returns to the IRS, as well as five additional counts of aiding in the preparation and presentation of fraudulent tax returns.

George had been found guilty by a federal jury on April 11, 2018.

According to court documents, George was the owner and operator of Professional Tax Service South, LLC, a tax preparation firm in Jacksonville.  George taught his employees various ways to include false information in tax returns to ensure that his clients received large tax refunds. Acting at George’s direction, the employees offered to prepare fraudulent or “boosted” returns for clients, in exchange for cash payments from the proceeds of the resulting illegitimate tax refunds. After being in business for less than two years, George and his employees had prepared and filed 748 tax returns for clients, 100% of which requested refunds. According to testimony at trial, typically, only 62% percent of tax returns filed nationwide request refunds. The tax returns prepared and filed by George and his employees requested refunds totaling more than $3.2 million. 

This case was investigated by IRS – Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican.