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Those unlicensed tax preparers are just unaccountable!

August 13, 2009

A Montgomery (Alabama) man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for conspiring to defraud the U.S. government through the filing of false and fraudulent tax returns.
Tommy Jordan, 56, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson on Thursday. His conviction Jan. 9 also included 26 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income tax returns, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Leura G. Canary. Thompson also ordered Jordan to pay $93,000 in restitution.

And there's this:

A retired IRS agent from the Kansas City, Missouri, area will serve nearly four years in federal prison and repay over 10.6 million dollars to his former employer for tax fraud.
Prosecutors said today the terms were imposed after 72-year-old

Thomas W. Steelman of Blue Springs earlier admitted to involvement with the now-defunct tax-preparation firm "Renaissance, the Tax People" of Topeka, Kansas.

Somehow it seems unlikely that having an IRS-imposed continuing education requirement would have saved these folks from crossing to the dark side. In fact, in the second case, it clearly didn't. And the sanctions they face are much worse than anything an IRS preparer regulatory board is likely to dish out.

Prior Tax Update Coverage: TOPEKA RENAISSANCE COMES TO BAD END; MADISON CASBAH ROCKED

Tags: preparer penalties.Preparers.tax crime.