The New York State Department of Taxation & Finance’s ongoing campaign against paid tax preparers who commit crimes and cost the state and federal government millions of dollars in sales tax and income tax revenue has achieved another conviction. Case in point: A Bronx tax preparer who orchestrated a scheme to create 7 million dollars in false deductions and tax credits, will be spending the better part of the next five years in federal prison for his crimes after pleading guilty to various federal tax crimes. According to a press release by the state Tax Department, the 40 year old defendant operated E&M Multi-Services, Inc., a store front tax preparation service in the Bronx. It was determined that over a period of seven years, this individual was involved in the preparation and filing of over 4000 fraudulent federal and state tax returns. The submission of these returns resulted in the state and federal government paying out over 2.5 million dollars in refunds to the tax preparer’s clients. The penalties for engaging in this activity are severe. “In addition to his prison term, Chief Judge Preska sentenced Goldberg to three years of supervised release and ordered the defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $2,597,419 to the United States and New York State for the losses caused by his crimes. He also will forfeit more than $500,000 in seized funds earned through his tax fraud scheme, half of which will be paid to New York.” It is important for anyone facing a federal or state criminal tax investigation to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney at the earliest possible date.  Having the right attorney in place to protect the accused is of critical importance. Help is only a phone call away.