Binghamton Man Pleads Guilty to Preparing False Tax Return

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Donald Grant, 40, of Binghamton, New York, pled guilty today to assisting in preparing a false tax return and attempting to interfere with the administration of Internal Revenue Laws. 

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s New York Field Office.

As part of his guilty plea, Grant admitted that over the course of four years he prepared twenty-seven tax returns that contained false information.  These returns contained false claims of business income, business losses, and educational expenses, which gave Grant’s thirteen taxpayer clients more than $100,000 in refunds they were not entitled to.

Grant also admitted that he interfered with the IRS-Criminal Investigation’s inquiry into the returns he prepared and filed by providing a client with a counterfeit profit and loss statement, encouraged clients to provide false information to investigators, and provided false information himself, when interviewed by an IRS.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 9, 2017 before United States District Judge David N. Hurd.  Grant faces up to 3 years in prison on both counts, a maximum fine of $100,000 for preparing a false return and $5,000 for interfering with Internal Revenue Laws, and a maximum term of supervised release of 1 year.  At sentencing, Grant may also be ordered to pay restitution to the IRS.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

This case was investigated by the New York Field Office of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Levine.