CSHD defendant Daryl Horton - Okemos tax return preparer indicted
Man charged on 45 counts of filing false, fraudulent returns
Barbara Wieland • bwieland@lsj.com • February 13, 2010 • From Lansing State Journal
lansingstatejournal.com
GRAND RAPIDS - A 49-year-old Okemos tax preparer has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 45 counts of filing false and fraudulent federal income tax returns, a prosecutor said Friday.
If convicted, Darryl Stanley Horton faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each count. While his clients were not named in the indictment, they could face audits of their tax returns.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Donald Davis estimated the loss to the Internal Revenue Service at nearly $400,000 from 2004-07.
A telephone number listed for Horton has been disconnected and the U.S. Attorney's office in Grand Rapids didn't return calls seeking comment. However, the 65-page indictment lists several cases of alleged fraud.
Horton used several schemes to get fatter refund checks for 17 individuals or couples, including himself, the court document said.
In some cases, the government alleges, Horton claimed business losses on enterprises that didn't exist. In one example, an individual's tax return claimed that he operated a ministry that lost $53,377 in 2007. However, the indictment said the ministry didn't operate at all that year.
Horton also allegedly claimed education credits, earned income credits and deductions for people who hadn't earned them. Horton's own tax returns are among the list of fraudulent returns.
Horton also faces federal charges in Atlanta. He and others are alleged to have defrauded investors in the publicly traded Conversion Solutions Holdings Corp.
The federal government convicted 115 abusive tax preparers in 2009, handing out an average sentence of 24 months in prisons, halfway houses or home detention.
No criminal charges have been filed against the taxpayers involved. But that doesn't mean the people who turned in the fraudulent claims are off the hook, said Stephen Moore, spokesman for the IRS's criminal investigation division in Detroit.
"In general, the lesson here is that if you sign a return, you are ultimately responsible for that return," Moore said. "The returns in question are probably going to be audited, and any money owed will have to be paid back by the taxpayer."
Certified public accountant Bob Miller, a principal at the Maner Costerisan firm in Lansing, said people should carefully choose a tax preparer.
"If what they're offering seems too good to be true, it probably is," he said. "In the end, if you understated your taxes, you're going to have to pay that back."
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