A Cobb County business owner has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges allegedly he prepared and filed false tax returns that claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds.
Thomas Holmes was arraigned Friday before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Janet King following the April 10 indictment on 22 counts in connection to an alleged four-year scheme laid out by prosecutors.
According to BJay Pak, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Holmes owned and operated TKO Tax Pros, a tax preparation business, in Austell. From 2013 to 2017, he prepared and filed thousands of returns for his clients.
On many of the returns, Holmes allegedly provided false information such as business losses and itemized deductions, according to Pak’s office. This resulted in the returns claiming thousands of dollars in refunds the taxpayers were not entitled.
When the Internal Revenue Service issued those refunds, Holmes allegedly kept a portion of the money for himself and paid the balance to his clients. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges the Austell resident made hundreds of thousands of dollars for his business.
“Citizens expect tax preparers like Holmes to accurately prepare and file their returns,” said Pak. “His alleged abuse of the tax system for financial gain undermines public confidence in the system. We have dedicated resources to combat this kind of theft, and we will aggressively prosecute those who believe they can file false tax returns, thereby cheating everyone else.”
The case is being investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation division.
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