A Cobb County man will spend more than three years in prison for filing more than $2 million in fraudulent tax returns on behalf of his clients with the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said.
Thomas Holmes has been sentenced to three years and one month in prison. Once released, he will serve two years on probation and will be required to pay $2.6 million in restitution to the IRS.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Holmes, 41, of Austell, was identified by the IRS as possibly filing fake returns through his business, TKO Tax Pros.
Prosecutors say that between 2011 and 2019, Holmes filed thousands of returns and listed false information on hundreds of those documents. Some of that false information included businesses losses and itemized deductions, which allowed his customers to claim millions in refunds they were not legally entitled to, according to prosecutors.
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When the IRS released those refunds, federal prosecutors say Holmes kept a portion of the money and paid the rest to his customers. Holmes’ e-filing status was revoked during the investigation, but he “continued to file fraudulent returns through the mail,” prosecutors said.
“Holmes stole $2.6 million by claiming false deductions and credits on his clients’ tax returns over a number of years,” U.S. Attorney BJay Pak said. “Tax preparers who cheat the IRS and skim off the top of their clients’ tax refunds can look forward to spending tax seasons behind bars. As this tax season approaches, preparers should be warned that the government diligently finds and prosecutes this kind of fraudulent conduct.”
Holmes pleaded guilty in September to the charges outlined in an indictment. The case was investigated by the IRS’s Criminal Investigation division.
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