Union County tax preparer admits assisting in preparation of fraudulent tax returns

Date: Oct. 15, 2024

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Newark, NJ - A Union County, New Jersey, tax preparer admitted assisting in the preparation of fraudulent tax returns on behalf of his clients, resulting in improperly large refunds for the tax preparer's clients, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Emmanuel Amenyo, of Union, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court on Oct. 10, 2024, to an information charging him with aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false and fraudulent tax return.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From tax years 2018 through 2021, Amenyo ran a tax preparation business in which he prepared and submitted individual tax returns to the IRS on behalf of clients. Amenyo filed numerous false tax returns on behalf of his clients and subscribed to false tax returns with respect to his own taxes. These tax returns falsely claimed charitable contributions, itemized deductions, child and dependent care expenses, and other qualified expenses to which Amenyo and his clients were not entitled, resulting in improperly large tax refunds, as Amenyo knew and intended. Amenyo's conduct caused a tax loss of $250,466.

The charge that Amenyo pleaded guilty to carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for April 1, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Stern of the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit in Newark.

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.