Federal Court Bars Georgia Tax Return Preparer and Her Business From Preparing Tax Returns and Orders Them to Disgorge Ill-Gotten Gains | WPN World People News

A federal court in Atlanta, Georgia entered a permanent injunction against Marjorie St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC, barring them from preparing federal tax returns for others and owning or operating a tax preparation business, the Justice Department announced on August 21. The court also ordered that St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC disgorge $367,346.14, representing the ill-gotten gains that they received for the preparation of tax returns making false claims. The orders were signed by Judge Eleanor L. Ross of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit available to certain low-income working people. In this case, the court found that St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC, an entity owned by St. Jean through which St. Jean operates tax preparation stores, prepared tax returns that included fraudulent claims for the EITC, often based on bogus dependents, fabricated business income and expenses, and/or false filing status. The court also determined that St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC systematically and routinely prepared tax returns that falsely claimed: (1) Fuel Tax Credits; (2) Household Help income; (3) unreimbursed employee business expenses; and (4) self-employed business income and/or expenses. The court concluded that injunctive relief and an order requiring that St. Jean and MarjorieStjeanLLC disgorge the ill-gotten gains that they received for the preparation of tax returns making such false claims was appropriate.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice