Owner and Employee of Tax Preparation Business Charged with Filing Fraudulent Returns and Claiming Over $3,000,000 in Refunds

An owner of a tax preparation business and his employee are charged with filing hundreds of fraudulent returns and claiming over $3,000,000 in fraudulent refunds.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

In an indictment unsealed today, Corry E. Pearson, of Riviera Beach, and Stephane Cindy Anor, a/k/a “Stephanie Anor,” of West Palm Beach, are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349; wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343; and aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A. Pearson is also charged with money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) and 1957.

According to allegations contained in the indictment, defendant Pearson owned Tax King, Inc., a tax preparation business, where defendant Anor was an employee. For tax years 2012 and 2013, Pearson and Anor electronically filed at least 862 fraudulent federal income tax returns. In some cases, the defendants stole other people’s identities and filed Federal income tax returns in the victims’ names, collecting the refunds for themselves. The defendants also filed returns that inflated the taxpayers’ refunds. In some cases, the filed returns falsely reported that money had been withheld from taxpayers’ wages and gambling winnings. In others, the defendants filed returns falsely claiming education credits to which the taxpayers were not entitled. In total, the returns filed by the defendants claimed at least $3,747,125 in fraudulent refunds. Pearson also engaged in financial transactions with the proceeds of the fraud, some of which were designed to disguise his control over the illicit refunds.

If convicted, the defendants face maximum possible statutory sentences of 20 years' incarceration for the conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 20 years' incarceration on each count of wire fraud, and a mandatory sentence of 2 years' incarceration on each count of aggravated identity theft. In addition, Pearson faces maximum possible statutory sentences of 20 years’ incarceration on each count of money laundering in violation of Section 1956 and 10 years’ incarceration on each count of Section 1957.

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Osborne.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls