On March 4, 2022, the Department of Justice announced the sentencing of two Florida tax preparers. Nikency Alexis, the owner and operator of Unity Tax & Financial Services, a Broward County tax preparation business, was sentenced to 45 months in prison, and Thony Guillaume, who worked as a return preparer at the same business, was sentenced to 40 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and preparing false tax returns.
According to court documents, from 2011 through 2016, Alexis and Guillaume conspired to defraud the IRS by preparing returns for clients that claimed business and education expenses the clients did not incur. After learning about the criminal investigation, Alexis and Guillaume are said to have continued filing false returns and concealed their involvement in the filing of those returns by listing other individuals as the paid preparers. In total, Alexis and Guillaume were accused of seeking more than $2.8 million in fraudulent refunds from the IRS.
In addition to the terms of imprisonment, the Judge ordered Alexis to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $464,006 in restitution to the IRS. The judge ordered Guillaume to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $221,823 in restitution to the IRS.
The attorneys at Chilivis Grubman represent clients of all types and sizes in connection with fraud investigations. If you need assistance with such a matter, please contact us today.