An Atlanta man has pleaded guilty after he made false claims on tax returns for two companies and received more than $215,000 in refunds for the fraudulently filed documents, officials said.
Lucious D. Mack, 49, pleaded guilty in federal court to presenting false claims to the IRS and stealing government funds, officials from U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine’s office announced Friday.
“Mack went to great lengths to deceive the IRS,” Erskine said. “However, their diligence in this case uncovered his deceit, and he now faces the possibility of time in prison.”
Mack filed two fraudulent returns for two of his companies. On both, he claimed the sale of properties he never owned, according to property records.
Erskine said the charges presented in court included fraudulent corporate income tax returns Mack filed. The 2015 tax return falsely claimed that the company, Carter Industries, prepaid taxes and paid additional long-term capital gains taxes totaling $235,515.
The capital gains tax payment supposedly came from property Mack’s company sold in DeKalb County. Property records established that Carter Industries never owned the property.
The IRS never received tax payments from Carter Industries for 2015. As a result of the false representations, the tax return fraudulently claimed a refund of $109,521.
Mack filed a 2015 tax return for another company, Carter International Holdings. In that tax return, he also claimed the fraudulent payment of long-term capital gains taxes. This one was supposedly from a property sold was located in Bibb County, according to the Justice Department.
Bibb property records similarly confirmed that Mack’s company never owned the property listed in the tax returns. The IRS further confirmed that the agency never received tax payments of any kind from or on behalf of Carter International Holdings for tax year 2015.
As a result of the false representation, the tax return claimed a refund of $105,877. The IRS issued a Treasury check for the amount, which Mack deposited into a local bank account and spent the money for his personal benefit, according to the Justice Department’s news release.
Mack is expected to be sentenced May 10.
About the Author
