In 2004, the Berrys, their father Matthew, and two other preparers working at N.C.K., were indicted on tax charges and accused of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service out of more than $30 million. Carla and Karen Berry were ordered to pay the IRS $14 million in restitution as a result of their pleas.
The two had been accused for preparing returns with inflated deductions for mortgage interest and unreimbursed employee business expenses resulting in millions of dollars of lost tax income. The court also found that N.C.K. Services retained copies of legitimately prepared returns but destroyed copies of its fraudulently prepared returns. In March 2008, the sisters pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States, aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, and willfully filing a false tax return.
Mathew Carl Berry was sentenced to nine years in prison in June 2009 and ordered to pay more than $15 million in restitution for filing false returns for the years 2001, 2002 and 2004.