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BUFFALO — David Menzies, 51, of Floral Park, NY, pleaded guilty to tax fraud before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti and Tax Division Attorney Jason M. Scheff, who are handling the case, stated that between January 2010 through April 2015, Menzies filed fraudulent tax returns for hundreds of clients that claimed fake business income and expenses and false dependents to claim refunds to which his clients were not entitled. Menzies solicited, and sometimes purchased, the personal identifying information of minors from their parents, and claimed them as dependents on other clients’ returns. Menzies charged his clients $250 for the use of the phony dependents and often used the same children’s information in multiple years. He recruited people to assist him in filing these fraudulent returns and directed them to escort his clients to check cashers, in order to cash their refund checks and collect Menzies’ fee, including the money he charged for creating false dependents.
In addition, Menzies concealed his identity as the preparer by soliciting other people to apply to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for preparer IDs and filing the fraudulent returns using the preparer identification numbers the IRS assigned to these individuals. Menzies admitted that he caused a tax loss of more than $250,000.
Menzies also acknowledged that he failed timely to file his 2009 through 2015 personal tax returns.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division, under the direction of Kathy A. Enstrom, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Office
Sentencing is scheduled for July 26.
