ROCHESTER — A 55-year-old Tonawanda man was charged by criminal complain with preparing fraudulent tax returns — punishable by up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, Frank Wilson operated an income tax return preparation business in Rochester. The defendant prepared at least 18 false tax returns claiming total refunds of at least $90,508. The complaint further states that Wilson’s conduct appears to be related to much larger, nationwide fraud scheme involving approximately 3,529 false tax returns that sought a total of approximately $12,361,498 in fraudulent refunds. Many of the taxpayers who hired Wilson to prepare tax returns did not review their tax returns, did not know that the defendant had included fraudulent information on their returns, and did not receive any refund from Wilson as result of the fraudulent returns.

The defendant made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson and was released.

from US Dept. of Justice via IFTTT