SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced today to five years of home confinement and ordered to pay $273,372 in restitution for preparing false tax returns.
According to court documents, Richard Medina Sr., 68, operated an unnamed and unregistered tax return preparation business out of his residence from 2013 to 2016. Medina prepared false federal income tax returns for his clients by claiming false credits, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and itemized deductions. Medina fraudulently maximized tax credits to generate undue tax refunds, causing a loss of over $273,000 Medina was also required to notify the bankruptcy trustee of all forms of income after filing for bankruptcy in 2013 but lied under oath about income from his tax preparation business.
On June 23, 2020, Medina pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return and one count of false statement in bankruptcy.
“Unscrupulous tax return preparers such as Medina do millions and millions of dollars in harm both to the U.S. Treasury and to their taxpayer clients, who are ultimately responsible for the accuracy of their returns,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff. “Medina’s use of false information extended both to his own personal returns and to his omission of his income from filings he made when he pursued bankruptcy protection.”
The Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William R. Harris prosecuted the case.
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