North Carolina Tax Return Preparer Indicted

A federal grand jury in Greensboro, North Carolina, returned an indictment yesterday charging a former Raleigh, North Carolina, man with 27 counts of preparing and filing false tax returns and obstructing the IRS.

According to the indictment, Jerome Osuamadi Nwabueze owned and operated Total Tax Services, located in High Point, North Carolina. Between 2018 and 2022, to secure higher refunds for his clients, Nwabueze allegedly prepared and filed with the IRS false tax returns that reported wages and withholdings, business income and expenses and education expenses that were fabricated or inflated. Nwabueze also allegedly prepared and filed false tax returns for himself that reported similar false items, and omitted income he earned from preparing tax returns. These false tax returns also generated refunds for Nwabueze to which he was not entitled.

The indictment further alleges that, when the IRS audited Nwabueze in 2020, he fabricated tax documents and provided them to the IRS.

If convicted, Nwabueze faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each false tax return charge and three years in prison for the obstruction charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Hairston for the Middle District of North Carolina made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Isaiah Boyd of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Waid for the Middle District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.