Coates, who pleaded guilty on Monday, is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 10 in Dayton’s U.S. District Court.
The IRS said Coates filed at least 170 false income tax returns for the 2011 tax year, causing a loss of $445,450 with $167,422.63 being directed into bank accounts in Coates’ name or under his control.
“While most return preparers provide excellent service to their clients, a few unscrupulous tax preparers file false and fraudulent returns to defraud the government, the tax-paying public and their own clients,” IRS Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Enstrom of the agency’s Cincinnati office said in a press release. “Mr. Coates wreaked havoc on the integrity of our tax system in a very short period of time.”
Coates filed fraudulent returns on behalf of people referred to him by other customers or those who responded to a flyer Coates distributed in the Xenia area, the press release said. The release said Coates promised that they could get refunds even if they didn’t work or were getting disability payments.
The taxpayers didn’t know Coates included fraudulent Household Help income (HSH) to maximize the earned income credit and generate a refund. Coates also knowingly included fake totals of qualified educational expenses and collected his fees by diverting money into bank accounts he controlled.
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