Illinois Man Sentenced to 46 Months

HAMMOND - The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Thomas L. Kirsch II, announced that Arthur Lee Smith Jr., age 60, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced before Hammond Senior District Court Judge James T. Moody for filing false claims.   

Smith was sentenced to forty-six (46) months imprisonment followed by two (2) years of supervised release.  Smith will also have to pay restitution in the amount of $313,871.

According to documents in this case, the defendant pleaded guilty to filing fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of individuals who paid him to file their returns.  Smith held himself out as a tax preparer, using the names “King Solomon” and “Buddy” in his capacity as a tax preparer.  When preparing tax returns for clients, Smith sometimes fraudulently reported an overinflated salary and federal income tax withheld for his clients, and other times fraudulently reported unearned wages, unpaid federal income tax withheld, and/or false dependents.  These fraudulent filings led to fraudulent refunds being issued to Smith’s clients.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigative Division.  The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Lerner.

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