New York Tax Return Preparer Indicted for Filing Fraudulent Tax Returns

A federal grand jury returned an indictment, which was unsealed today, charging the owner of a Uniondale, New York tax preparation business with filing fraudulent tax returns, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to the indictment, Mariano Exantus ran Latrex Multi Service, a tax return preparation business. The indictment charges that from 2011 through 2017, Exantus prepared and filed fraudulent income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that included fake business losses and education expenses and sought refunds to which his clients were not entitled. The indictment further charges that Exantus filed fraudulent tax returns in the name of an individual whose identity had been stolen.

If convicted, Exantus faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison on each of the fraudulent return counts, 20 years in prison on the wire fraud counts and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison on the aggravated identity theft counts. Exantus also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. Individuals charged in indictments are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Carl F. Brooker, IV and Sarah C. Ranney of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.