Boston - A Longmeadow tax preparer was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Springfield for filing false tax returns for customers of his business, JLF Tax Group, Inc.
Jonathan Fein, 53, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor to 29 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.
Fein operated a tax preparation business called JLF Tax Group, Inc., d/b/a American Tax or American Tax Service (JLF), which was located in Springfield and Greenfield. Fein prepared individual federal income tax returns for various JLF customers, most of whom were unfamiliar with the Internal Revenue laws and relied upon Fein to prepare correct, accurate, and complete returns. Between approximately January 2007 and April 2012, Fein prepared numerous tax returns that he knew were fraudulent, so that his customers could receive larger tax refunds from the IRS. Fein generally deducted his tax preparation fee from the fraudulently obtained tax refunds. Furthermore, in November 2010, Fein falsely stated to Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service that he did not fraudulently prepare any tax returns in order to conceal his fraud.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 16, 2013. Fein faces up to three years in prison on each count, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Service in Boston, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office.
