A Suwanee man accused of trying to claim a $1.7 million tax refund was convicted Wednesday by a federal jury.

Donus R. Sroufe, 55, was found guilty of making a false claim for a tax refund and interfering with the administration of the revenue laws, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta announced. The filing a false claim charge, which is the more serious of the two, carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Prosecutors said that on his individual income tax return for 2008, Sroufe claimed that he received $2.5 million from a U.S. Treasury bond and paid more than $2.6 million in federal taxes — but the bond was a fake and he had not paid any income taxes for that year.

He was warned in April 2009 by the IRS that his return was “frivolous” and he could face a penalty, and in June of that year, two IRS special agents told him that the bond appeared to be fraudulent. But two months later, he mailed a copy of the same tax return to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, along with a copy of the bogus bond, and demanded a $1.7 million refund, prosecutors said.

“Millions of Americans file their tax returns honestly every year, while Mr. Sroufe tried to defraud the government out of $1.7 million dollars,” United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates in the news release. “Fortunately, the IRS intercepted the return and, as a result, no taxpayer funds were paid out.”

Sroufe is scheduled to be sentenced May 30.

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The city of Brookhaven's mayor and City Council last week decided to remove the colored panes of glass from the dome of Brookhaven's new City Centre after residents objected to the brightness of the colors, seen here Friday, June 27, 2025. (Reed Williams/AJC)

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