A Littleton man, Thuan Bui, has been handed down a sentence of three years in federal prison for submitting false tax returns. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announced that Bui, 60, pled guilty to one count of aiding or assisting in the preparation of false documents and will also face one year of supervised release and a $50,000 fine after his prison term.
Operating under various business names from 2016 to 2021, Bui misled his clients into believing that he was a certified public accountant. In his tax preparation business, on hundreds of tax returns, he understated tax liabilities by creating or exaggerating expenses on the Schedule C form, which is meant for reporting income or loss from a business. Having abused his client's trust, the man, Bui now pays the price for his repeated violations.
"This defendant willfully and repeatedly abused his clients’ trust when his job was to help them accurately file their annual tax returns," said Acting United States Attorney J. Bishop Grewell, as per U.S. Department of Justice. During the tax season, the call for vigilance has been encouraged by Grewell, so that other taxpayers ensure their information is reported correctly.
Amanda Prestegard, Special Agent in Charge at the IRS-Criminal Investigations Denver Field Office, affirmed the high stakes of the trust placed in tax preparers, "Tax preparers are entrusted to file accurate and truthful tax returns on behalf of their clients to ensure they are meeting their tax obligations." said Prestegard, as obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice. Bui was engaged, and rooting out fraudulent preparers like him is a priority for the IRS-CI.
