Month: June 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A federal court in the Eastern District of New York has permanently barred Brooklyn-based defendants Keith Sang, Kashana Sang, Tareek Lewis, Kimberly Brown and their business, K&L Accounting Group Inc., from preparing federal tax returns for others.

After bringing suit in July 2021 against the defendant return preparers and business, the United States obtained a preliminary injunction from the court to stop defendants from preparing returns while the litigation was pending. In issuing the preliminary injunction, the court found that (1) all defendants acted willfully or recklessly in preparing returns that understated their customers’ true tax liabilities; (2) defendants Keith Sang and Kashana Sang interfered with the administration of the internal revenue laws by preparing paper returns that did not identify the return preparer; and (3) all defendants took “concerted and conscious steps” to evade enforcement efforts by the IRS.  The defendants recently consented to entry of a permanent injunction.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. (More information can also be found here.) The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers, and offers information on how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers. The IRS also has a checklist of things to remember when filing income tax returns in 2022.

In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $73,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronical federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free. The IRS has tips on how seniors and individuals with low to moderate income can get other help or guidance on tax return preparation, too.

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Remarks as Delivered

Good morning, everyone.

I am joined today by United States Attorney for the Western District of New York Trini Ross, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke, and Deputy Director of the FBI Paul Abbate.

On May 14, a horrific attack targeted the Black community of Buffalo. On that day, I said that the Justice Department is investigating this matter as a hate crime and as an act of racially-motivated violent extremism.

Today, I met with the loved ones of the victims and survivors of that attack.

And I told them that the Justice Department has just filed a complaint against the individual we allege committed this heinous crime – which killed 10 people, all of whom were Black, and wounded three others.

The complaint we have filed today charges Payton Gendron with 10 counts of committing a hate crime resulting in death; three counts of committing a hate crime involving an attempt to kill; 10 counts of using a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence; and three counts of using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

The affidavit in support of the complaint quotes the defendant as stating that his goal was to “kill as many blacks as possible.” 

The affidavit outlines how the defendant prepared for months to carry out this attack.

It alleges that:

• he selected a target in this zip code because it has the highest percentage of Black people close enough to where he lives;
• he selected the Tops store because it is where a high percentage and high density of Black people can be found; and
• he made a map of the inside of the Tops store “and decided the best plan of attack for [the] highest chance of success.”

The affidavit also notes that the defendant chronicled this plan on his Discord messaging account in the months leading up to the attack. 

Citing that account, the affidavit alleges that the defendant wrote about his acquisition of firearms and other supplies for the attack, and traveled to Tops on multiple occasions to sketch the interior of the store, count the number of Black people present, and observe the presence of Black security guards.

On May 14, the defendant arrived at Tops wearing a tactical-style helmet, camouflage clothing, body armor, and a GoPro video camera, and carrying a loaded Bushmaster XM-15 rifle and multiple loaded magazines.

The affidavit alleges that he repeatedly targeted, shot, and killed Black people. At one point, he aimed his rifle at a white male Tops employee, who had been shot in the leg and injured. Instead of shooting the white employee, the gunman apologized to him before continuing his attack.

Ballistics evidence recovered at Tops indicated that the gunman fired approximately 60 shots during the attack.

In the days and weeks since the attack, we have all witnessed the strength of this community’s bonds, its resilience, and its love. I am humbled to have just felt that firsthand in my discussions with the families.

Hate-fueled acts of violence terrorize not only the individuals who are all attacked, but entire communities.

Hate brings immediate devastation, and it inflicts lasting fear.

At the Justice Department, we view confronting hate crimes as both our legal and our moral obligation.

The Justice Department was founded more than 150 years ago with the first principal task of protecting Black Americans – and our democracy – from white supremacist violence.

Today, we approach that task with the same degree of urgency as we did then.

We fully recognize the threat that hatred and violent extremism pose to the safety of the American people and American democracy.

We will be relentless in our efforts to combat hate crimes, to support the communities terrorized by them, and to hold accountable those who perpetrate them.

No one in this country should have to live in fear that they will go to work or shop at the grocery store, and they will be attacked by someone who hates them because of the color of their skin, someone who commits that act because he subscribes to the vile theory that only people like him belong in this country.

And no one in this country should have to bury a loved one because of such hate.

The Justice Department will never stop working to fulfill our duty to protect the American people from hate-fueled violence.

Indeed, it is the duty of every American to stand against such hate.

I am now pleased to turn the podium over to U.S. Attorney Trini Ross, and I will return afterward for a few questions.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – On Monday, James Steele Saunders, 60, of Kingman, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 12 months and 1 day in prison. Saunders previously pleaded guilty to Tax Evasion. 

Saunders evaded paying taxes for 15 years. Between 2003 and 2013, Saunders failed to file timely income tax returns with the IRS. In 2009, an IRS revenue officer was assigned to collect taxes owed by Saunders for tax year 2003 and to solicit the filing of tax returns for tax years 2004-2008.  Saunders did not cooperate with the IRS and failed to pay what he owed.  In 2014, Saunders began to funnel his income through third parties in an attempt to deceive the IRS. He continued this practice until February 2018.

In addition to his prison sentence, the Court ordered Saunders to pay $180,079 in restitution to the IRS, which represents the federal income taxes Saunders failed to pay for tax years 2008 through 2017.     

IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Stone, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-21-00331-PHX-JJT
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022- 093_Saunders

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Marlon Valoy De La Rosa, age 23, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced on June 8, 2022, to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay $19,138.01 in restitution by U.S. District Court Judge Sylvia H. Rambo, after pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft.

According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, on January 4, 2020, at approximately 4:30 AM, Steelton Borough Police observed De La Rosa along with two other individuals tampering with a U.S. Mail blue collection box in the Borough of Steelton, Pennsylvania.  One individual, later identified as Enrique Reyes, used what appeared to be a white rope with an object attached to it to “fish” into the mailbox’s opening while a second individual, later identified as Josue Peguero, stood nearby as a lookout.  De La Rosa drove the vehicle in which the individuals arrived and left the scene.

Following a traffic stop, the individuals were found to be in possession of numerous debit cards in different names, none of which matched De La Rosa, Reyes, or Peguero.  De La Rosa possessed a receipt from a fraudulent ATM transaction using a stolen check and a stolen, washed check belonging to a different individual. 

The investigation showed that De La Rosa, Reyes, and Peguero had conducted multiple fraudulent debit card transactions in New York City just prior to traveling to the Harrisburg area and had also recently traveled to the Boston area, where they had gone mail fishing and obtained additional checks from the mail.  Their debit card transactions involved the use of stolen, altered checks and debit cards belonging to other people.  The investigation further determined that the three had been involved in the stealing of checks and the depositing of these checks in a fraudulent manner for several months leading up to the time of their arrest.

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Steelton Borough Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma prosecuted the case.

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