JERSEY CITY – U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced Monday that a Jersey City tax preparer has pleaded guilty to making false statements in tax documents he submitted to the IRS.
Rommel Amante, 35, pleaded guilty on Monday before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in federal court in Trenton in connection with a 2007 income tax return.
Amante admitted in court that he paid another individual $5,000 to create Montgomery Tax Services, located in Jersey City, so that he could prepare and electronically file Federal income tax returns while hiding his identity from the IRS. Amante admitted that he presented false claims against the IRS, which included fabricated education tax credits for his clients for the tax year 2007.
In all, the false tax returns Amante filed resulted in approximately $941,659 in fraudulent education tax credits.
The charge to which Amante pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for January 6, 2011. – Ricardo Kaulessar