A father-and-son duo who ran a tax return preparation operation out of the District of Columbia are facing charges for an alleged scheme against the IRS. Vincent Larry Phillips, Sr., 60, and his son, Vincent Michael Phillips, Jr., 36, were indicted on 24 counts, including conspiracy, aiding in the preparation of false returns, false statements, and aggravated identity theft, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice. The charges were revealed in an indictment unsealed in the U.S. District Court.
The elder Phillips surrendered to authorities, and his son was arrested this morning, as reported by the Department of Justice. Operating since 1995 under various business names, Tax Express LLC, Nubian Tax Service, and others, Phillips Sr. is no stranger to run-ins with the IRS. He previously pleaded guilty to a similar charge in 2010. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro pointed out this history, stating, “Phillips Sr. has done this before, he pleaded guilty to a similar offense in 2010,” and assured the public that, with President Trump's administration's stance against fraud, “Rest assured after this he will not do it again.”
Per the indictment, the Phillips are accused of preparing fraudulent tax returns that either increased refunds or created refunds when clients actually owed the IRS. This was supposedly done often without the consent or knowledge of their clients, skimming money off the top for their personal gain. An undercover operation by the IRS in March 2022 caught the preparers in the act when they created false returns for agents, adding in fictional expenses for a geothermal heat pump that the agents never purchased.
Among the more egregious allegations, the indictment claims that Phillips Sr. used the identity of a woman associate to hide his involvement in preparing and filing returns electronically. Due to his previous conviction, the IRS had expelled him from its e-file program and revoked his business’s electronic filing identification numbers. “Father and son allegedly prepared separate false returns for the undercover agents,” as described in the indictment, which led to their eventual arrest and charges. While the charges are serious, it’s important to remember that an indictment is not a conviction, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
This case is currently being handled by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and the Department of Justice Criminal Division, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Ranney and Criminal Division Trial Attorney Emerson Gordon-Marvin leading the prosecution. As this story unfolds, it presents yet another reminder of the vigilance required to combat financial deception and the intricate webs woven to defraud the systems intended for public order and trust.
