Meridian Man Sentenced to Prison for Preparing False Income Tax Returns

Jackson, Miss - Kendrick Williams, 36, of Meridian, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Tom Lee to serve 21 months in federal prison followed by one year of supervised release for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent federal income tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and Jerome R. McDuffie, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. The Court will hold a restitution hearing on March 3, 2016 to determine the amount of restitution that Williams will have to pay back to the Internal Revenue Service.

Williams prepared fraudulent tax returns for clients for the 2007 and 2008 tax years using the business name, TaxPro415. Without his clients’ knowledge, Williams prepared tax returns with falsely inflated federal withholding amounts, overstated wages, understated wages, false filing statuses, false Education Credits, false Tuition and Fees Deductions, and false Itemized Deductions. The false tax returns claimed $99,329.51 in refunds.

"The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to aggressively prosecute those individuals who steal money from the U.S. Treasury," said U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis.

Special Agent in Charge, Jerome R. McDuffie, stated: "Kendrick Williams filed false returns to obtain inflated refunds on behalf of his clients. While most of the individuals had no knowledge of his illegal actions, they are still charged with repaying the monies, to their own detriment. IRS - Criminal Investigation is committed to holding unscrupulous return preparers accountable for the victimization of taxpaying citizens, and would caution taxpayers out there to seek out reputable return preparers and review the documents being filed with the IRS on their behalf."

This case was investigated by IRS- Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenda Haynes.