Orlando Tax Fraud Lawyers

Orlando Tax Fraud Lawyers

Certified Taxes, LLC filed over 3,600 tax returns for Orlando clients between 2016 and 2018. Only one of those returns resulted in the taxpayer owing money to the IRS. That’s not skill – that’s fraud. The scheme invented business losses using fake Schedule C forms, then claimed Earned Income Credits the clients never qualified for. The owners didn’t even show clients the returns before filing them. The clients signed documents they never saw containing lies they never knew about. The lead defendant’s sentence: eight years in federal prison plus $3.8 million in restitution. The tax preparation business that generated refunds for nearly everyone generated federal prison time for its owners.

The Middle District of Florida has seen tax fraud at scales that destroyed lives and businesses. A tax preparation company with twelve offices throughout Florida that held training sessions teaching employees how to commit fraud. A construction payroll scheme that processed $146 million while evading $37 million in taxes. A COVID credit scheme that charged clients up to $20,000 per return for credits they didn’t qualify for. When federal prosecutors in Orlando bring tax charges, the defendants often operated businesses that appeared legitimate until investigators traced the patterns – and their sentences reflect the extraordinary scale of what they did.

Certified Taxes Filed 3600 Returns And One Owed Money

Erotida Natasha Harden Ortiz and Aida Cortes operated Certified Taxes, LLC in Orlando from 2016 through 2018. The business filed tax returns. But the statistics tell you everything about what kind of business it actually was. Over 3,600 returns filed. Only one resulted in the taxpayer owing money to the IRS.

Think about what that means. In any legitimate tax preparation business, some clients get refunds and some owe money. The ratio varies by clientele and income levels. But 3,600 returns with only one owing money is statistically impossible through legitimate preparation. The only way to achieve that ratio is to manufacture refunds through fraud.

Heres the thing about how the scheme worked. Certified Taxes used fraudulent Schedule C forms showing business losses that clients didnt have. The fake losses reduced taxable income. The reduced income qualified clients for Earned Income Tax Credits they werent entitled to recieve. The combination generated refunds for everyone – becuase the information wasnt real.

The owners didnt even show clients the returns before filing them. The returns went directly to the IRS without client review. The clients signed documents they never read containing claims they never made. Clients who came to Certified Taxes thinking they were getting help with there taxes were actualy participating in fraud without knowing it.

U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. sentenced Harden Ortiz to eight years in federal prison and Cortes to four and a half years. The court ordered $3.796 million in restitution. Eight years for a tax preparation business. Thats longer then many drug dealers recieve. The sentence reflects the scale – 3,600 fraudulent returns filed over three years.

The 3,600 clients whose returns Certified Taxes filed are now in IRS systems with returns prepared by convicted criminals. The Schedule C losses didnt exist. The Earned Income Credits werent legitimate. Those clients face potential audits and repayment demands for refunds they recieved based on information they never provided. The preparers go to prison. The clients inherit years of tax problems from returns they signed without reading.

Neighborhood Advance Tax Trained Employees To Commit Fraud

Jonathan Carrillo and Franklin Carter Jr. owned and operated Neighborhood Advance Tax (NAT) from 2016 to 2020. The company had twelve offices throughout Florida. Diandre Mentor managed the Orlando office from 2018 to 2019. What made this operation distinctive wasnt just the scale – it was how they institutionalized the fraud. The company basicly created a fraud curriculum.

A local news investigation helped expose the scheme. Reporters documented patterns that eventualy led investigators to examine the entire operation across all twelve locations. The fraud that seemed invisible to the IRS became visible when journalists started asking questions. The investigation that followed uncovered what investigators described as a “very large scale” fraud operation.

Heres the irony that defines this case. NAT held periodic training sessions. At those sessions, they taught employees how to prepare fraudulent tax returns. They formalized fraud education. The company wasnt just committing fraud – it was training the next generation of fraudsters.

The scheme fraudulently inflated client refunds by fabricating deductions on returns. Employees learned the techniques at training sessions then applied them at twelve offices across Florida. The fraud wasnt one person going rogue. It was systematic instruction in how to file false returns delivered to employees who then processed thousands of clients.

U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger sentenced Carrillo to 121 months in federal prison – over ten years. Carter recieved 84 months – seven years. Mentor, the Orlando office manager, recieved 36 months. The restitution orders were extraordinary. Carrillo owes approximately $12.17 million. Carter owes approximately $12.54 million. Mentor owes approximately $3.09 million.

Ten years for running a fraudulent tax preparation business. The sentence reflects what investigators found – a company that institutionalized fraud through employee training sessions, operated across twelve locations, and processed enough fraudulent returns to generate over $12 million in restitution obligations for each owner. The fraud that seemed like a business model delivered decades of combined prison time for everyone involved.

The 146 Million Dollar Construction Scheme

Eduardo Anibal Escobar, Carlos Alberto Rodriguez, and Adelmy Tejada operated a construction payroll scheme in Orlando that processed $146,077,535 between January 2015 and August 2024. Nearly a decade of operation. Over $146 million flowing through accounts. And the IRS didnt see any of the required payroll taxes.

Heres how the scheme worked. The defendants ran two companies – T. Escobar Construction and C. Escobar Construction. They entered agreements with hundreds of construction subcontractors. The subcontractors would send payroll money to the defendants. The defendants would withdraw cash, take there 6-8% fee, and pay construction workers off the books. No payroll taxes. No workers compensation coverage. No paper trail.

The scheme also involved fraudulent certificates of insurance. The defendants sent fake certificates to contractors claiming subcontractors were there employees covered by company insurance policies. In reality, the policies covered only a handful of workers. The rest were uninsured laborers paid in cash.

U.S. Senior District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan sentenced Escobar to four years and nine months in federal prison. Rodriguez recieved three years and four months. Tejada recieved eighteen months plus six months of home detention. The court ordered $36,957,616 in restitution to the IRS for unpaid payroll taxes. The court also ordered $397,895 to workers compensation insurers.

Nearly $37 million in IRS restitution. The scheme that processed $146 million while skipping payroll taxes created obligations that will follow these defendants permanantly. The workers who recieved cash payments have no Social Security credits for those years of work. No Medicare credits either. No unemployment insurance protection. The money they thought they were earning wasnt building any safety net becuase none of the required withholdings were being paid. The companies that hired subcontractors through this scheme may face there own exposure for using workers who werent properly documented or insured. The fraud that seemed like a win for everyone actualy created vulnerabilites across the entire chain – workers without protections, subcontractors with criminal exposure, and companies with potential liability.

COVID Credits Became Fraud Targets

James Fednor Meristin operated Kings and Queens Multi Services in Ocoee from 2019 through 2023. When COVID relief programs created new tax credits, Meristin saw opportunity. He filed returns claiming COVID-related sick and family leave credits for clients who didnt qualify for them. The pandemic credits designed to help people became tools for fraud.

Heres the thing about COVID credit fraud. The programs were created quickly to provide emergency relief. The verification systems werent as robust as normal tax enforcement. Fraudsters saw the opportunity. Meristin charged clients for returns claiming credits they werent entitled to recieve – and the fees were extraordinary.

Kings and Queens Multi Services charged clients as much as $20,000 per return. Twenty thousand dollars to file a single tax return. The inflated refunds from fraudulent COVID credits justified the premium fees. Clients paid thousands of dollars to recieve fraudulent refunds that will eventualy be clawed back by the IRS. The fee they paid is gone. The refund they recieved becomes debt.

U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton sentenced Meristin to three years in federal prison. The court ordered $2,338,675 in restitution to the IRS. The COVID credits that were supposed to provide pandemic relief provided prison time for the preparer and problems for every client who recieved a fraudulent return.

Marc Arthur Eliassaint also operated in Orlando through 360 Tax Services, LLC. Between 2016 and 2020, Eliassaint filed 35 false returns for clients while also filing fraudulent returns for himself. The scheme included fake fuel tax credits, fabricated itemized deductions, and business losses that didnt actualy exist. U.S. District Court sentenced Eliassaint to 21 months in federal prison. The preparer who filed fraud for clients and for himself discovered that investigators trace all the returns eventualy. The personal returns he filed were examined alongside the client returns. When preparers commit fraud on there own taxes, they demonstrate the willfulness that makes prosecution more likely.

For anyone in Orlando who claimed COVID credits through a tax preparer, the Meristin case raises questions. Did you actualy qualify for those credits? Did your preparer charge unusually high fees? The IRS is actively investigating COVID credit fraud. The returns filed during those years are under scrutiny that didnt exist when they were filed.

The Note Program Client Who Became A Defendant

Christopher Johnson of Orlando promoted the “Note Program” with co-conspirator Jasen Harvey from 2015 to 2018. The scheme claimed clients could get refunds for federal income taxes that had been withheld from there income. The problem: no taxes had been withheld. The withholdings existed only on fraudulent returns.

But heres the twist that makes the Johnson case instructive. Arthur Grimes of Ocoee and Orlando wasnt just a promoter of the Note Program. He was a client. He used the scheme himself. And when the IRS came to collect the fraudulent refunds, Grimes obstructed the investigation.

The client became a defendant. Grimes was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for obstructing the IRS. He didnt just lose the fraudulent refunds – he went to prison for trying to keep them.

U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton sentenced Johnson to 37 months in federal prison. Harvey recieved 48 months. The Note Program claimed over $3 million in fraudulent refunds. The IRS paid out approximately $1.5 million before investigators identified the pattern.

For anyone in Orlando who participated in tax schemes promising refunds for phantom withholdings or income that didnt exist, the Note Program prosecutions are a warning. The promoters go to prison. But clients who obstruct IRS collection also face prosecution. The fraud that was supposed to generate free money generated prison time for both the sellers and some of the buyers.

Off The Books In The Construction Industry

Wendel Algarin operated a different kind of scheme in Orlando. He didnt prepare individual tax returns. He helped construction subcontractors pay workers off the books. Between 2012 and 2019, Algarin ran three shell companies that facilitated the evasion of payroll taxes and workers compensation insurance premiums.

Heres the thing about off-the-books schemes in construction. Subcontractors want to avoid payroll taxes and insurance costs. Workers – often undocumented – accept cash payments. Facilitators like Algarin process the payments and take fees. Everyone thinks they benefit. Nobody pays into the systems designed to protect workers and fund government services.

Algarin conspired with subcontractors to pay undocumented construction workers off the books. He operated shell companies to process the payments. His fee for facilitating the fraud: nearly $2 million over seven years.

U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger sentenced Algarin to 30 months in federal prison for conspiring to defraud the IRS. The scheme that operated for seven years collapsed when investigators traced the shell company transactions. The facilitator who earned nearly $2 million in fees will spend over two years in federal custody.

For construction companies in Orlando dealing with subcontractor payments, the Algarin case illustrates the exposure. Off-the-books schemes involve conspiracy charges. The subcontractors who used Algarin face there own potential exposure. The workers who recieved cash have no Social Security credits for those years. The fraud that seemed like cost savings created criminal liability across the entire chain.

Floridas Federal-Only Prosecution Reality

Florida has no state income tax. For people considering tax fraud, that might sound like reduced exposure. The reality is the opposite. All tax fraud prosecution in Orlando goes through federal court. There is no lesser state option. Every case is a federal case.

Heres what that means practicaly. In states with income taxes, some fraud gets prosecuted at the state level with state sentences. State prison is often shorter. State penalties are often less severe. Florida has none of that. The Middle District of Florida handles all tax fraud prosecution. Federal sentences apply.

The Harden Ortiz case – eight years federal prison. The Carrillo case – 121 months federal prison. The Escobar construction case – nearly five years federal prison plus $37 million restitution. Every one of these cases went through federal court becuase Florida has no state tax prosecution alternative. The defendants faced federal exposure from the start becuase thats the only exposure Florida tax fraud creates.

The 90% federal conviction rate means most people charged get convicted. Federal prosecutors in the Middle District of Florida dont bring cases they cant prove. By the time your indicted, theyve already determined the evidence is sufficient. The investigation that happened without your knowledge produced the evidence that will convict you.

Defense Strategy In Orlando

If your facing tax fraud exposure in Orlando, the calculus involves understanding how the Middle District operates.

The Certified Taxes case shows that scale matters – 3,600 fraudulent returns resulted in eight years for the lead defendant. The Neighborhood Advance Tax case shows that institutionalized fraud – training sessions teaching employees how to commit fraud – results in sentences over ten years. The construction payroll case shows that schemes operating for years eventualy get traced through the financial records they create.

Heres what these cases have in common. By the time defendants faced prosecution, there options had narrowed dramaticaly. The investigations were complete. The evidence was gathered. The schemes were documented. The 90% federal conviction rate means fighting the charges rarely succeeds. The only questions were conviction and sentencing.

The time to address tax fraud exposure is before any of that happens. Voluntary disclosure programs exist. Coming forward before the IRS finds you creates opportunities to resolve issues civily – with penalties and interest, but potentialy without prison. In Florida, theres no state prosecutor to work with – everything goes federal. That makes early action even more critical becuase theres no lesser option if federal prosecution develops.

If an investigation has already begun, damage control becomes the priority. Understanding what investigators know. Protecting against self-incrimination. Navigating toward the least damaging outcome possible in a district that has imposed sentences exceeding ten years for tax preparation fraud.

Why Orlando Specificaly Creates Exposure

Orlandos economy creates particular tax fraud exposure. The tax preparation industry where businesses like Certified Taxes and Neighborhood Advance Tax operated fraudulent schemes for years before prosecution. The construction industry where payroll fraud operates at scales exceeding $100 million. The COVID relief programs that created new fraud opportunities.

The Certified Taxes case reveals how fraudulent businesses can process thousands of returns before patterns become visible to investigators. The Neighborhood Advance Tax case shows how fraud can be institutionalized with training sessions and multiple locations. The construction scheme demonstrates how off-the-books payments compound across years into massive tax obligations.

And Floridas lack of state income tax means everything is federal. The Middle District of Florida handles all prosecution. The sentences are measured in years – eight years for Certified Taxes, over ten years for NAT, nearly five years for the construction scheme. Theres no state-level alternative that might resolve matters short of federal prosecution.

If theres tax fraud exposure in your situation – returns prepared by someone now under investigation, COVID credits you didnt qualify for, construction payments made off the books – the time to address it is before investigators start looking. Not after the investigation begins. Not after your preparer gets indicted.

Heres the thing about prosecution in Orlando. The Middle District of Florida has shown through the Certified Taxes case, the NAT case, the construction case, and dozens of others that it pursues tax fraud aggressivly. The sentences can be extraordinary – over ten years for Carrillo, eight years for Harden Ortiz. The 90% federal conviction rate means nearly everyone charged gets convicted. Your exposure persists untill you address it. The federal-only system Florida creates means theres no lesser option.