Ocala tax preparer sentenced to federal prison for defrauding clients and IRS

Date: Nov. 25, 2024

Contact: [email protected]

Ocala, FL - United States District Judge Thomas Barber has sentenced Steven Cabrera to three years in federal prison for assisting in preparing false tax documents, submitting false tax documents, and willfully failing to file tax returns. Cabrera entered a guilty plea on Aug. 16, 2024.

According to court documents, Cabrera worked as a tax preparer in the Ocala area. From 2017 to 2019, Cabrera engaged in widespread tax fraud, adding unauthorized and fraudulent deductions and credits to his clients' tax returns without their knowledge and then embezzling the additional tax return proceeds for his own use. Cabrera also defrauded clients directly by telling them to make out checks to "IRS" and pledging that he would send the funds to the IRS himself. Instead, he deposited those checks into an account he controlled for a fictitious business, "International Resort Services." Cabrera's years of fraudulent activity caused total losses of nearly $1 million.

"It's certainly a bold move to invoke the name of the 'IRS' when attempting to defraud not only the government, but people who are putting their trust in you," said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation's Tampa Field Office. "The real 'IRS' is always going to show up, investigate, and put a stop to these types of scams. If your return preparer exhibits any of the behaviors shown in this case, please visit IRS.gov and click on the 'Get your tax record' button. From there, you can verify the accuracy of the information on your tax record and, if necessary, report any fraudulent or inaccurate information."

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.

IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.