Plantation Tax Prep Man Sentenced To Two Years In Prison
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Plantation man who ran a tax preparation business was sentenced to two years in prison for filing false tax returns.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, from 2002 through 2008 Thomas Michael O'Rourke prepared two sets of tax returns for his clients. The first return, which he showed to the client, generally reported a refund due to the client. This tax return was not actually filed with the IRS.
O'Rourke then prepared a second, false return, and filed it with the IRS through the "E-filer". This second return showed a larger refund due to O'Rourke's client. The difference between the expected refund and the large refund actually paid by the IRS was disbursed by the E-filer to O'Rourke as tax preparation and other fees.
In addition to the theft, O'Rourke also failed to report his ill-gotten gains of at $1 million on his yearly tax returns.
In addition to the prison time, O'Rourke was ordered to continue to cooperate with the IRS in the filing of corrected tax returns and pay any taxes that may be owed for tax years 2002 through 2006, which according to court records is approximately $358,364.
