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Florida Preparers Guilty of ID Theft

dojTwo Broward County, Fla., tax preparers have pleaded guilty to using stolen identities to file tax returns. Luczor Fertilien, 39, and David Joseph, 37, who owned two tax preparation businesses in Lauderhill, Fla., cost the government more than $550,000 in lost taxes by their actions.

 

The two operated Imperial Taxation and Multi-Services Corp. and Aleluya Universal Accounting Services and from about 2010 through 2016 they filed a variety of fraudulent returns.

These included returns reporting fictitious business income, seeking refunds to which clients were not entitled abd utilizing unwarranted education and fuel tax credits. These returns also claimed deceased individuals and some whose identifies were stolen as dependents, along with filing returns in the names of individuals whose identities were stolen.

Sentencing is scheduled for September. The two each face a maximum of five years in prison for conspiracy and three years maximum on each count of filing false returns. They also face a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Fertilien and Joseph were indicted in April, along with Frantz Petit-Dos, who is now a fugitive.

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