Mount Vernon Tax Preparer charged with fraud

Samuel Gentle operates Gen Gen Accounting

According to the US Attorney, Preet Bharara,, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”),  "announced today the unsealing of a 50-count Indictment of tax preparer SAMUEL GENTLE on charges relating to his false and fraudulent preparation of individual income tax returns for his clients.  According to the Indictment, the loss from GENTLE’s conduct exceeded $630,000.  GENTLE was arraigned today in White Plains federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy.  The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said:  “As alleged, Samuel Gentle abused his position of trust as a tax preparer by systematically assisting taxpayers in filing false and fraudulent returns.  Today’s charges underscore our commitment to pursuing and prosecuting individuals who seek to enable and encourage tax fraud.”

IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen said:  “About 60 percent of American taxpayers use tax professionals to prepare their tax returns.  Fortunately, most tax professionals are reputable and prepare accurate and honest returns for their clients.  IRS Criminal Investigation is responsible for investigating unscrupulous tax return preparers and, working with the United States Attorney’s Office, seeing that they are prosecuted.  I stress the importance of choosing your preparer carefully.  Ask him or her questions about your return and use your common sense in evaluating the answers you receive.”

The government sent in an under cover IRS agent as a client and Mr.  Gentle, "included false and fraudulent deductions for business expenses and gifts to charity on the tax return he prepared for the undercover agent. " The problem is that Mr. Gentle did it without receiving any supporting documentation. He allegedly just made up deductions out of thin air.

How the government figured out that Mr. Gentle was cheating the system it does not say. I can assume it may have come from an audit of one of his clients and then the client spilled the beans and ratted out Mr. Gentle. Lucky for Mr. Gentle that the alleged fraud was not in the millions and then it would be a lot worse for him.

Will Mr. Gentle, 59 years old, end up in jail? It depends. If he goes to trial and loses, he will get hammered. If he takes a plea, he can get up to a three point deduction on the guideline chart.  I can guess that he may get from probation to a few years. It depends on the sentencing guideline and what deal his lawyer would work out with the government. It also depends on 18 USC 3553 factors. The last one to decide his fate is the Judge. Being that it is a white collar crime, if he gets jail time, he would most likely end up in a camp and if it were me, I would ask for a recommendation to go to Otisville. The Judge can only recommend. The one to decide is the Bureau of Prisons. If he has medical issues , he would end up in a medical facility. 

If he ends up in prison, and I hope he does not since he is an older person, this is what he can expect....http://www.amazon.com/PRISON-expect-Federal-Bureau-Prisons-ebook/dp/B011GTWLOG