LawFuel.com – IRS Prosecutions –
Riverside, Calif. – A Fontana man was taken into custody yesterday morning after he surrendered to federal authorities on charges of aiding and assisting in the false preparation of tax returns.
Chris Dobison was indicted May 21 by a federal grand jury in Riverside. The indictment accuses Dobison of 19 counts of aiding and assisting in the false preparation of tax returns
Dobison operated B & T Services, a.k.a. C. Dobison & Associates, from his Fontana home. From about February 2003 through December 2004, according to the indictment, Dobison prepared and filed 19 false tax returns for tax years 1998 through 2002. In those allegedly false tax returns, Dobison either claimed a self-employment tax deduction to generate a refund that the taxpayers were not entitled to, or he filed fabricated Forms 1065 (Business Partnership Return) knowing that the taxpayers did not maintain a business during the tax years. Two of the returns that Dobison prepared and filed also claimed fabricated cost of good sold on the Schedules C, when Dobison knew full well that the taxpayers were not entitled to these deductions.
“This indictment serves as a reminder to all tax preparers who intentionally prepare fraudulent returns, that their disregard for our tax system could lead them to prison,” said Leslie P. DeMarco, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office.
Dobison is expected to make his initial court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside.
The statutory maximum penalty for each count of aiding and assisting in the false preparation of tax returns is three years in federal prison and a fine of $100,000.
This investigation is a product of work by IRS-Criminal Investigation in the Los Angeles Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Priya Sopori is the prosecutor assigned to this matter.
An indictment itself is not evidence that the defendant committed the crimes charged. The defendant
is presumed innocent until the Government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt.
