Federal Court Bars Eastern Pennsylvania Woman from Preparing Tax Returns

WASHINGTON – A federal court in Philadelphia has permanently barred Dorthea Alexander from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order, to which Alexander agreed without admitting the government’s allegations, was signed by Judge R. Barclay Surrick of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The government complaint in the case alleged that Alexander, of Leola, Pa., claimed bogus dependent exemptions, charitable donation and other deductions, and tax credits on customers’ tax returns during her employment as tax supervisor at Pawn Plus Inc. in Lancaster, Pa. The injunction order requires Alexander to send a copy of the order to all customers for whom she, or anyone under her direction, prepared a federal tax return since Jan. 1, 2005, and to give the government a list of those customers.

In the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of tax return preparers and tax fraud promoters. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website .