United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

PLANO, TEXAS, TAX PREPARER SENTENCED TO
30 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON

Luciano Martinez Worked at “Twin Tax” Tax Preparation Business in Dallas

DALLAS — Luciano Martinez, who pleaded guilty to two federal felony tax offenses, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 30 months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Specifically, Martinez pleaded guilty in July 2010 to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false and fraudulent return and one count of making a false statement on an income tax return. Judge Fitzwater ordered that Martinez surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by April 5, 2011.

According to documents filed in the case, Martinez, of Plano, Texas, worked as a tax preparer for “Twin Tax,” a tax preparation business, that, according to court documents, was located in Dallas and owned by Anthony U. Barber. In June 2010, Barber was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to the same offenses as Martinez. Ramon Perez, of Allen, Texas, another full-time employee of Barber’s at Twin Tax, pleaded guilty in November 2009 to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false and fraudulent return, and was sentenced in December 2010 to two years probation.

According to the factual resume filed in Martinez’s case, Martinez personally met with clients and prepared their tax returns based on information that he received in these face-to-face meetings. However, at Barber’s direction, Martinez would add additional deductions, namely false and inflated itemized Schedule A deductions and false Schedule C business losses, as well as tax credits, such as false Hope Education Credits, to Twin Tax clients’ tax returns without their knowledge. Even after Martinez prepared a client’s tax return, Barber would sometimes adjust the return by increasing already false and inflated credits, thereby increasing the refund. In cases involving the returns prepared by Martinez and altered by Barber, Barber also increased the return preparation fee by a corresponding amount.

According to the factual resume, a reasonable estimate of the tax loss attributable directly to Martinez’s conduct at Twin Tax is between $400,000 and $1 million.

1 The factual resume also states that Martinez willfully failed to file accurate personal income tax returns. Martinez failed to report approximately $103,704 in wages from Twin Tax on his 2003 return and also failed to report wages of $323,907 on his personal tax return for 2004.

The case was investigated by the IRS - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and prosecuted by U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division Trial Attorneys Robert A. Kemins and Jed M. Silversmith and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Revesz, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas.

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