Hackensack, NJ
Breaking News
SCAM ALERT: Don't Let Sketchy Tax Preparer Rip You Off, IRS Warns SCAM ALERT: Don't Let Sketchy Tax Preparer Rip You Off, IRS Warns SCAM ALERT: Don't Let Sketchy Tax Preparer Rip You Off, IRS Warns
Scam ALERT: Don't Let Sketchy Tax Preparer Rip You Off, IRS Warns The IRS began accepting and processing 2020 tax year returns on Friday -- with a warning. Although most tax preparers deliver honest and professional service, “there’s a small number of dishonest preparers who set up shop during filing season to steal money and personal and financial information from clients,” said Michael Montanez, the special agent in charges of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Newark Field Office. Look no further than the results of some his squad’s year-round investigative work. The most recent example is Joseph Kenny Batts, a tax preparer in New Jersey who was sentence…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Breaking News
NJ Tax Preparer Gets 5 Years In Fed Pen For $1.6M IRS Scam NJ Tax Preparer Gets 5 Years In Fed Pen For $1.6M IRS Scam NJ Tax Preparer Gets 5 Years In Fed Pen For $1.6M IRS Scam
NJ Tax Preparer Gets 5 Years In Fed Pen For $1.6M IRS Scam A twice-convicted tax preparer who helped New Jersey clients scam the IRS out of $1.6 million is headed to federal prison for the next five years. Joseph Kenny Batts, 52, of Elkridge, MD became the third of five men sentenced for preparing bogus tax returns at Tax Pro’s and Tax Solutions & Associates in Essex and Union counties. Batts, who already had a federal tax fraud conviction on his record, was the only one of the group to go to trial. U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp convicted him of conspiracy to defraud the United States, as well as five counts of aiding in preparing fals…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Worcester, MA
Breaking News
City Man Pleads Guilty To Temp Staffing Scheme City Man Pleads Guilty To Temp Staffing Scheme City Man Pleads Guilty To Temp Staffing Scheme
City Man Pleads Guilty To Temp Staffing Scheme A former city resident has pled guilty to ripping off U.S. tax-payers through a cash-wage scam he ran at local temp staffing agencies. On Tuesday, Jan. 26, Julio Lopez, 43, of Los Angeles, but formerly of Worcester, pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiring to defraud the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts said. According to court documents, Lopez worked for three Worcester-based employment agencies where he misrepresented the number of the companies’ employees as well as the wages earned by the employees. Those companies were Bay State (whic…

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by Kristin Palpini
Bristol, PA
Breaking News
Philadelphia Electrical Contractor Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud -- Again Philadelphia Electrical Contractor Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud -- Again Philadelphia Electrical Contractor Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud -- Again
Philadelphia Electrical Contractor Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud -- Again A Philadelphia based electrical contractor imprisoned for tax fraud in 2007 pleaded guilty Thursday to new charges of tax fraud and theft from employee benefit plans, authorities announced.  Donald Dougherty, 54, who owns Dougherty Electric, Inc. as part of a plea deal agreed to pay $92,913 in taxes due to the Internal Revenue Service, arising from false business deductions for what were actually personal expenditures, First Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said. Dougherty also agreed to pay $266,000 in restitution to the International Brother…

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by Nicole Acosta
Massapequa, NY
Your Community
Trump Calls Out NY AG By Name During 46-Minute Facebook Video Trump Calls Out NY AG By Name During 46-Minute Facebook Video Trump Calls Out NY AG By Name During 46-Minute Facebook Video
Trump Calls Out NY AG By Name During 46-Minute Facebook Video President Donald Trump was in a “New York State of Mind” this week during a 46-minute speech in which he called out the state's attorney general, Letitia James, for investigating his organization. During his lengthy diatribe shown on Facebook, Trump expressed concerns about the various fraud investigations launched by James’ office and by other prosecutors in New York that he will have to confront when he leaves office next month. James was the only New York prosecutor that Trump called out by name as the AG investigates his company over claims that he falsified his assets to ascertain ille…

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by Zak Failla
Highland Lakes-Vernon, NJ
Breaking News
Sussex Dentist Admits Tax Fraud Sussex Dentist Admits Tax Fraud Sussex Dentist Admits Tax Fraud
Sussex Dentist Admits Tax Fraud A Sussex County dentist admitted in federal court in Newark that he filed a false tax return with the IRS. Richard Golembioski, 61, of Vernon failed to report $114,566 in income from his dental practice on the 2012 return, as well as other amounts during the following four tax years, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Rather than go to trial, Golembioski took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to making and subscribing to the single false return, authorities said. U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo scheduled sentencing for March 8. Carpento credited IRS-Criminal Investigatio…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Egg Harbor Township, NJ
Breaking News
Atlantic City Man Gets 6½ Years In Fed Pen For $2.5 Million Tax Fraud Atlantic City Man Gets 6½ Years In Fed Pen For $2.5 Million Tax Fraud Atlantic City Man Gets 6½ Years In Fed Pen For $2.5 Million Tax Fraud
Atlantic City Man Gets 6½ Years In Fed Pen For $2.5 Million Tax Fraud An Atlantic City man was sentenced to 6½ years in federal prison for running a $2.5 million “mortgage recovery” tax scam. Kenneth Crawford Jr. will have to serve just about all of the sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. The judge also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release and pay $1,393,511 in restitution to the United States. Crawford led a ring that obtained refunds from the IRS for clients who were facing foreclosure or behind on their mortgage payments and weren’t entitled to them, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Crawford and his accom…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lakewood, NJ
Breaking News
Jersey Shore Pizzeria Owner Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Ducking $425,000 In Taxes Jersey Shore Pizzeria Owner Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Ducking $425,000 In Taxes Jersey Shore Pizzeria Owner Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Ducking $425,000 In Taxes
Jersey Shore Pizzeria Owner Gets 15 Months In Fed Pen For Ducking $425,000 In Taxes The owner of a Wildwood Crest pizzeria must serve a plea-bargained 15 months in federal prison for filing false income tax returns, authorities said. Giuseppe D’Arancio, 61, of Cape May Court House must serve the entire term handed down Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Camden because there's no parole in the federal prison system. He also must spend a year of supervised release and pay $507,246 in restitution to the IRS under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez. D'Arancio and a co-owner of Sal's Pizza on New Jersey Avenue "kept two sets of acco…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Middletown, NJ
On Your Side
Monmouth Accountant Arrested For Swindling $385K Monmouth Accountant Arrested For Swindling $385K Monmouth Accountant Arrested For Swindling $385K
Monmouth Accountant Arrested For Swindling $385K A Middlesex County man with an Englishtown-based accounting firm has been arrested for stealing tax payments from a wholesale distributor, authorities said. William A. Berry of South Plainfield was charged with theft by failure to make required disposition, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. The victims, former New Jersey residents, own a multi-million-dollar wholesale distribution company that specializes in holiday décor. The wholesaler is currently based in Charleston, South Carolina, Gramiccioni said.  Berry was arrested on Tuesday with…

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by Jon Craig
Springfield, MA
Breaking News
Lawyer Swindles Clients Out Of Millions; Forges Mom, Ex-Wife's Info To Further Scheme Lawyer Swindles Clients Out Of Millions; Forges Mom, Ex-Wife's Info To Further Scheme Lawyer Swindles Clients Out Of Millions; Forges Mom, Ex-Wife's Info To Further Scheme
Lawyer Swindles Clients Out Of Millions; Forges Mom, Ex-Wife's Info To Further Scheme A local attorney - who threw his own mother under the bus - brazenly stole, lied, and manipulated his clients out of millions of dollars has been sentenced to 66 months in prison. Phillip R. Williams, of Easthampton, pleaded guilty in December, to wire fraud, engaging in financial transactions greater than $10,000 of proceeds derived from criminal activity, money laundering, and tax fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts, said. On Friday, Sept. 25, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni sentenced Williams to over 5 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release…

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by Kristin Palpini
Massapequa, NY
Breaking News
13 Nabbed In $1 Million Long Island Tax Fraud Scheme 13 Nabbed In $1 Million Long Island Tax Fraud Scheme 13 Nabbed In $1 Million Long Island Tax Fraud Scheme
13 Nabbed In $1 Million Long Island Tax Fraud Scheme Thirteen people were arrested and charged on a 108-count indictment on Wednesday for their roles in a massive tax fraud scheme that involved at least 10 suspects on Long Island. Prosecutors in Suffolk County announced on Wednesday, Sept. 23 that they’ve charged 13 people in a scheme that net them more than $1 million by stealing personal identification to create new identifies that were used to get loans and credit cards. The scheme targeted at least 20 people on Long Island and more than a dozen banks. It is alleged that the fraudsters stole Social Security numbers from vulnerable parties…

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by Zak Failla
Brookfield, CT
Breaking News
Fairfield County Tax Preparer Sentenced For Defrauding IRS Of Nearly $1M Fairfield County Tax Preparer Sentenced For Defrauding IRS Of Nearly $1M Fairfield County Tax Preparer Sentenced For Defrauding IRS Of Nearly $1M
Fairfield County Tax Preparer Sentenced For Defrauding IRS Of Nearly $1M A tax preparer in Fairfield County will spend months in prison after admitting to preparing hundreds of false tax returns for clients. Veronica Huitzil, 39, was sentenced in Bridgeport district court to six months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to preparing false tax returns and defrauding the IRS out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Huitzil, of Bridgeport, operated a tax return preparation practice in Bridgeport, assisting in the preparation and filing of more than 3,700 federal tax returns for the 2014 through 2018 tax years, U.S. Attorney …

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by Zak Failla