Justice Department Sues to Stop Chicago-Area Woman and Her Businesses from Preparing Tax Returns | WPN World People News

The United States filed a complaint in federal court in Chicago to bar Laurie G. Helfer, aka Laurie G. Powell, individually and through her businesses Laurie’s Freelance & Tax Preparation Services and Tax Lady Laurie Inc., from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced.

The complaint alleges that Helfer prepares and files amended tax returns for individuals claiming refunds that they are not legally entitled to receive. According to the complaint, Helfer has prepared hundreds of amended tax returns for customers in the Chicago area and the tax loss to the U.S. Treasury as a result of her fraudulent conduct could exceed $3 million.

According to the civil injunction complaint, Helfer promises her customers that she can obtain tax refunds for them by amending their tax returns from prior years. To do this, Helfer allegedly fabricates expenses from businesses that do not exist and enters those expenses on a Schedule C-Profit or Loss From Business that she files with her customers’ amended tax returns. The complaint alleges that the expenses offset her customers’ income from prior years and illegally generates a refund. The complaint further alleges that Helfer also prepares original returns for customers during tax-filing season using this same scheme to generate a refund. In an attempt to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Helfer stopped signing the tax returns that she prepares and also frequently changes the locations in which she prepares customers’ tax returns, including various Chicago-area hotel rooms, the complaint alleges.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice