Owner of local ‘Raining Cash’ tax company sentenced to 3 years in prison for causing $1.7M in tax losses

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A local tax preparer was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to the statutory maximum, 36 months, in prison for aiding in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns. 

Ali Kasimu Alston, 48, of Columbus, aided in the filing of thousands of fraudulent tax returns. He is ordered to pay more than $1.7 million in restitution to the IRS.

According to court documents, from at least 2015 through at least 2022, Alston owned and operated a tax return preparation business in Columbus named Overtime Ventures, LLC that did business as Raining Cash Tax Service.

Alston systematically falsified client tax returns to maximize refunds from the IRS. He filed Schedule Cs with fake businesses to maximize tax credits. For example, one false tax return for calendar year 2021 reported false losses for a home healthcare company that did not exist. The false business losses reduced the client’s taxable income, thereby decreasing the tax due and increasing the client’s claimed tax refund.             

The defendant also attempted to bribe one of his former employees with $4,000 in cash to provide false information to law enforcement, which he knew at the time was investigating his tax preparation business. Even after entering his guilty plea, the defendant continued to assist in the filing of false tax filings. 

Alston was charged by a bill of information in September 2024 and pleaded guilty in October 2024. 

Aiding in the preparation of a false and fraudulent tax return is a federal crime punishable by up to three years in prison. Congress sets the maximum statutory sentence. 

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Karen Wingerd, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Cincinnati Field Office, announced the sentence imposed today by Senior U.S. District Judge James L. Graham. Assistant United States Attorney David J. Twombly is representing the United States in this case.

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