When the Department of Justice filed its complaint against the two in December 2012, it alleged that the Internal Revenue Service examined more than 2,600 income tax return the brothers prepared and had to adjust 94.5 percent of them. Both brothers were accused of concocting bogus losses, expenses, education credits, business expenses and charitable contributions in order to boost customer refunds.

"Larry Heath's and Andy Heath's fraudulent conduct is brazen," the complaint reported then. The two continued their behavior even when they knew they were under investigation.

The Heaths were reported to have prepared returns that had little relationship to the information clients had given them. Andrew Heath, for example, fabricated thousands of dollars in deductible business expense for a crane operator and a client his was principal at a local elementary school. The clients had no deductible business expenses and had not claimed any in the information they gave Heath.

Larry Heath had also been accused, after his EFIN had been suspended in April 2010, because of the number of errors in returns he filed, of pretending to sell his business to two different individuals, but then used their EFINs to continue to file returns

Larry was reported to have taught Andrew the fraudulent practices when the latter worked for his brother from 2007 through 2010. Andrew then opened his own business in 2011.