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DENVER – Two people were indicted after being caught running a fraudulent tax preparation business in Colorado.
Austin Ray
and his co-conspirator Anne Rasamee were indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on April 10, 2014. They both pleaded guilty to their charges in January of this year.
Rasamee, 31, faces up to five years in prison for her felony charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The U.S. District Attorney dismissed other counts of tax fraud in exchange for her testimony against Ray.
On Jan. 27 Ray, 48, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, two counts of assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns and two counts of signing and submitting his own false tax returns.
Conspiracy to defraud the United States carries a penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A false statement to the Internal Revenue Service carries a penalty of three years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Ray and Rasamee ran Cheapertaxes LLC from March 2006 through April 2010. They ‘doctored’ numbers on clients' tax return documents to ensure large refunds. If clients couldn’t pay up-front for the return preparation, Ray and Rasamee would have the refund deposited directly into their Cheapertaxes account. They also falsely listed third party companies as the tax preparers, in an attempt to hide their scam.
The two shared their profits, spending some of the money on luxury items.
In 2009, Rasamee and Ray purchased a used Bentley and a used Maserati for $140,000.
With tax season fast approaching, Stephen Boyd, Special Agent for IRS Criminal Investigation in Denver tells people to be cautious when hiring someone to do their taxes.
“This is a prime example of a return preparer you want to avoid,” he said. “As we approach filing season, choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer and avoid those who claim they can obtain larger refunds than others.”
(© 2016 KUSA)