07 May 2012
Civil RICO Class Action Filed Against Crooked Tax Preparers Who Prey on Immigrants
Sam Rock writes:
"Dear Advocates,
Sam
Rock and David Carter filed a RICO and fraud class action in the
Northern District of Georgia against several tax preparers alleging a
scheme of fraudulently claiming the child tax credit and additional
child tax credit to the detriment of their clients. The clients were
undocumented workers who did not speak English. The preparers claimed
the child tax credit and additional child tax credit for dependents who
did not live in the United States. The client is in removal proceedings
and had to amend tax returns to attempt to overcome a challenge to good
moral character in a non-LPR cancellation of removal case. After
amending the returns the individual will owe more then $20,000 in taxes
and penalty. I expect that by amending the returns and filing the class
action then it will be clear to the immigration court that this
individual was a victim - and he truly was. Often the victims owe
between $20,000 and $50,000 after the taxpayers tax returns have been
amended to disallow the credits. The
basis of RICO is a pattern defrauding the United States by use of the
mail/internet and banks. RICO would also work against notaries who file
fraudulent claims to immigration benefits. It may be new strategy to
pursue these crooks, rather than the UPL statutes. The
child tax credit is one of the main tax scams perpetuated by tax
preparers who work with the undocumented population. The other most
prevalent scam is for preparers to file the USC spouse as head of
household or single when married to an undocumented individual in order
to preserve the ability to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit. If
you have notice of a nefarious notarios in your area or potential
Plaintiffs' in Georgia, then please contact us. If we recover in these
cases, it will help to soften the blow to these individuals. We
will consider new RICO cases - tax, immigration, fraud perpetuated upon
immigrants, human trafficking - in all states. We would just need
local counsel. Plaintiffs'
attorneys in the GA class action are Sam Rock and David Carter. Feel
free to contact us with questions or to refer possible members of the
class."
www.rockandhardin.com
Rock & Hardin
3355 Lenox Rd., Ste. 750
Atlanta, GA 30326
tel: 404-920-8500
fax: 404-631-6444