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The owner of a tax preparation firm that operations locations in Alabama and Georgia has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the United States and filing false tax returns. Bruce King, who owns Premier Tax, is one of nine people associated with Premier Tax to have been convicted of crimes involving phony returns. On Thursday, Vonecia Orum, a preparer who worked at the company, pleaded guilty to delivering false tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service.
King was accused of holding training sessions in which preparers were taught how to fix returns to increase refunds. The IRS claims the amount of the fraudulent returns exceeded $1 million. Four defendants, Djonret, Donaldson, Smith, and Williams, used false dependents on clients' tax returns and pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated identity theft, in addition to charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States or filing false tax returns.
