The DOJ just announced that a complaint for permanent injunction has been filed against Diane Shontae Williams and her business, Dream& Memories Professional Planning Services (D&M), in the Eastern District of Missouri. The Complaint seeks to enjoin Williams, and her business, from preparing, or assisting in the preparation of, any federal tax returns.
According to the complaint, Williams began preparing federal income tax returns for profit in approximately 2017. Williams used D&M to schedule and prepare federal income tax returns until March 2021, although the company is listed as an event coordination, decorating, and planning business on its Articles of Organization. Between 2017 and 2022, Williams prepared 1,598 federal income tax returns and conducted several schemes to increase her customers’ refunds. Willi)ams allegedly claimed fictitious self-employment businesses, inflated and falsified self-employment expenses, claimed bogus Residential Energy Credits, fabricated household employee income, and created itemized deductions like charitable contributions. The complaint sites over ten customers that Williams involved in her fraudulent schemes. It is also alleged that some of Williams’ customers were unaware of her false claims. Williams masked her involvement in the foregoing schemes by acting as a “ghost” preparer and not including her IRS Tax Preparer Tax Identification Number on her customers’ returns.
The DOJ’s Tax Division has obtained similar injunctions in the past decade and maintains a list of enjoined preparers on its website.
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