An IRS Revenue Office from Edison, NJ, James C. Brewer, pled guilty to 12 counts of filing or preparing false tax returns, 12 counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud in connection with a multi-year scheme to falsify his tax returns and the returns of others to inflate the amount of refunds.
Brewer failed to report income he received from an unauthorized tax preparation business, underreported the gross receipts earned from an Internet retail business and claimed false dependents on returns filed during a three-year period. Brewer also claimed a tax credit for first time homebuyers which was a fraudulent deduction. He also listed false dependents and deductions on tax returns he prepared for others, without their knowledge, in order to receive inflated refunds they were not entitled to. Brewer would then divert a portion of the client’s returns to himself, again without the client’s knowledge.
Brewer faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each wire and mail fraud count, 3 years in prison for each tax fraud count. Brewer has also agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $70,000 to the IRS, plus penalties, interest and fines.
