MICHIGAN – A Detroit man who prepared more than 3,000 tax returns and earned more than $500,000 was convicted today in U.S. District Court of obstructing the IRS and nine counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false income tax returns, the U.S. Justice Department reported.
Officials said Matthew Bender, of Detroit, also failed to report his own income for the taxes he prepared from 2006 to 2011, officials said.
The evidence showed that Bender caused his customers’ tax refunds to be inflated by placing false deductions on their returns, according to federal officials.
After his conviction, Bender was jailed and is now facing three years in prison for each of the 10 counts he was convicted on and a fine of $250,000, officials said.