A Bellevue tax preparer who catered to a loyal clientele of tech workers has been convicted in federal court of helping clients file bogus tax returns, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington. A jury last week found 65-year-old Thanjavur Manavalan, owner of Mano Accounting Services in Bellevue, guilty on three counts after an eight-day trial. Jurors deliberated for about two days before returning their mixed verdict, and sentencing is set for July 15, 2026.
Prosecutors Say Fake Losses, Phantom Deductions Fueled Growth
Prosecutors told jurors that Manavalan juiced refunds and trimmed clients’ tax bills by inventing or inflating a grab bag of entries on federal returns. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington, those allegedly bogus items included charitable deductions, reported bases for investments sold, business losses, rental income and private loans.
His firm, prosecutors said, built a steady following among tech workers, many originally from India, who testified that they trusted him to navigate complicated filings and maximize their refunds. That trust, the government argued, is exactly what made the scheme work.
Inside The Trial: Twelve Returns, Three Convictions
The case at trial centered on 12 tax returns covering tax years 2018 through 2020. Jurors convicted Manavalan on three counts tied to those filings, acquitted him on one and failed to reach verdicts on eight others. The government estimates the total loss to the U.S. Treasury at more than $420,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington.
“Taxes can be complicated, but Mr. Manavalan’s scheme was not. He simply lied, going out of his way to falsify his clients’ tax returns,” Special Agent in Charge Carrie Nordyke of IRS Criminal Investigation in Seattle said in a statement quoted by prosecutors. The government says he fabricated businesses and invented losses to pad refunds, turning routine returns into a quiet tax-fraud machine.
How The IRS Flagged The Returns
According to federal filings summarized in Midpage, the IRS Scheme Detection Center first raised the alarm after spotting that Mano Accounting was submitting an unusually high rate of refund-seeking returns, with suspicious patterns on Schedules C, D and E when compared with national averages.
Investigators then sent in an undercover taxpayer to have a return prepared. The resulting filing allegedly claimed business deductions and capital losses that, the IRS says, the taxpayer had not substantiated. Search warrants executed in 2021 led agents to seize extensive paper and electronic records from the business, material that later appeared in court as part of the government’s case.
Penalty And What Comes Next
Each count of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false tax return can carry up to three years in prison. The investigation was handled by IRS Criminal Investigation, according to IRS Criminal Investigation.
Manavalan’s case remains in federal court, with sentencing set for July 15, 2026. At that hearing, prosecutors may also ask the judge to impose fines or restitution on top of any prison term.
