Augusta Man Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud Conspiracy After Operating Illicit Tax Prep Service

An Augusta man who ran a rogue tax preparation service is facing up to two decades behind bars after pleading guilty to wire fraud conspiracy. The Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, Tara M. Lyons, announced that Allen Brown, 41, admitted to the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment. In addition to potential prison time, Brown is facing a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. Information from the plea agreement detailed how Brown operated his ghost tax preparation enterprise, avoiding identification as a paid preparer on federal income tax returns he prepared for clients, as required by IRS regulations, as reported by the Department of Justice.

The fraudulent operation, consisting of three locations in Augusta, including a church and Brown's residence, was the center of Brown's illicit activities. Through his ghost setup, Brown crafted false income figures and deductions to inflate clients' tax refunds, charging them a fee pegged to a percentage of their refund. A crucial detail unaccounted for by Brown and his co-conspirators involved his failure to supply his clients with a copy of their tax return or review it with them before filing. According to a Department of Justice report, Brown's scheme led to 63 falsified federal income tax returns and over $1 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

His operation offered clients two filing options: the "Standard" or the "I'm Not Scared" option, which yielded substantially higher fraudulent refunds ranging from $14,000 to $30,000. Instructions for the "I'm Not Scared" option included falsely claiming Fuel Tax Credits and reporting erroneous gross incomes, expenses, and medical costs on different schedules of the tax returns. Alternatively, the "Standard" option guided preparers to falsely claim Sick and Family Leave Credits and others false items. In return for his services, Brown demanded a ten-percent cut of the refund, according to the same press release.

This case, propelled by the inquisitive work of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs, III. Brown's guilty plea is but an acknowledgment of the malfeasances he perpetrated, masquerading as legitimate while craftily concocting returns that would line his pockets with unearned money.