Mansfield Tax Preparer Sentenced in Tax and PPP Loan Fraud Schemes, Ordered to Pay $10.2 million in Restitution

A former Mansfield tax preparer who previously pled guilty to charges related to his false preparation of tax returns was sentenced last week to nearly 5 years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Festus Adenisimi, 65, pleaded guilty in September 2024 to one count of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.  He was sentenced on March 6, 2025 to 57 months in federal prison by U.S. Senior District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn, who also ordered him to pay $10,283,737.65 in restitution.

According to court documents, Adenisimi was the owner of a tax preparation business, FA Tax, where he and other tax preparers prepared fraudulent tax returns for their clients, often causing the IRS to issue refunds to those clients.  Adenisimi admitted to falsely preparing his own tax returns as well.

As part of the plea agreement, Adenisimi also admitted that he fraudulently obtained two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling $760,415 under the Small Business Administration’s COVID -19 relief program.   The Court ordered Adenisimi to pay restitution in relation to both the tax fraud and the PPP loan fraud.

IRS-Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Basu prosecuted the case.