If you try to defraud the federal government, they will try to collect if you’re caught. A former tax preparer from Gary has been ordered to pay over $1 million in restitution for faking returns for more tan 300 clients, getting them big returns for about $1,000 each for his fee.
Dorian L. Hall, 47, of Gary, pleaded guilty in June, and will have to pay back the money to the IRS, plus serve three years and three months in federal prison.
Hall operated his business from 2014 to 2016, according to federal court documents. During that time he worked on taxes for over 300 people, falsifying their claims on the Earned Income Tax Credit and education credit portions, getting them big returns.
His fees, typically of about $1,000 each, earned him several hundred thousand dollars.
Hall had previously pled guilty to criminal tax charges in November 2015 and was sentenced in April 2016. After learning that he was under investigation by the IRS, he opened 15 new bank accounts to support his tax preparation activities while claiming to have stopped his operations.
After being sent to prison, the IRS uncovered his additional tax preparation activities, resulting in the 2021 charges and sentence.
