Charles Anthony Keemer, age 64, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty, yesterday, to aiding and assisting the preparation and filing of a false and fraudulent tax return.
The guilty plea was announced by Kelly O. Hayes, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, with Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter, of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, Washington Field Office.
During the timeframe covered by the indictment, Keemer prepared U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, Forms 1040 (“income tax returns”) for clients in exchange for fees. Keeemer did so even though he was not registered as a tax preparer with any federal, state, or local regulator; had neither education nor work experience in the area of tax preparation; and did not report income earned from the tax preparation business on his own income tax returns.
According to the plea agreement, during the tax years 2013 through 2016, Keemer prepared and submitted to the IRS hundreds of income tax returns on behalf of his clients. He prepared and submitted his clients’ income tax returns electronically through online tax preparation software, typically from locations in Maryland. Keemer further met with clients at various locations in Maryland to receive payment for the tax returns that he prepared.
Keemer added materially false items to the income tax returns he prepared for his clients for the purpose of fraudulently increasing the size of the tax refund returned by the IRS to the clients. Such materially false items included, among other things, fictitious Schedule C businesses and false, fraudulent, and fictious expenses ostensibly incurred in connection therewith.
In total, the tax loss caused to the IRS as a direct result of Keemer’s actions for the relevant tax years was approximately $128,691.
Keemer faces a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison for aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of false tax returns. A federal district court judge determines sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby has not yet scheduled a sentencing date.
United States Attorney Hayes commended the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division for their work on the case. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Brooke Oki and Coreen Mao who are prosecuting the federal case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
