On September 28, 2018, in the Central District of California, tax preparer Aaron Joshua was charged with, and pled guilty to, wire fraud and subscription to a false tax return.

According to the plea agreement, Joshua, a resident of Sherman Oaks, California, was the owner of a tax preparation business that operated under the names Joshua Management Group and The Joshua Group, LLC (collectively referred to as JMG). As the owner and operator of JMG, Joshua prepared Federal and State income tax returns for clients.

From about 2010 until at least February 2017, Joshua devised and executed a scheme to defraud his clients by obtaining monies for himself that were due to JMG's clients. Without the knowledge or authorization of his clients, Joshua instructed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to deposit portions of his clients' refunds into his bank accounts. In some cases, these deposits exceeded the amounts agreed upon for his tax preparation fees.

For example, Joshua prepared individual tax returns for one victim for five separate tax years and charged the client approximately $300 for each return. For each year, Joshua provided the client with an electronic copy of a tax return claiming a significantly smaller tax refund than what was claimed on the return that Joshua filed with the IRS. In addition, Joshua attached an IRS Form 8888, Allocation of Refund, containing the taxpayer's name and Social Security Number, to each of the filed returns. However, Joshua's client did not authorize him to attach these allocation forms, which stated significantly higher refund amounts than were claimed on the client's copies of the returns. Joshua directed that the overages, i.e., the differences between the refund amounts claimed in the filed returns and the amounts stated on the client copies, to be paid into his bank accounts.

Between 2011 and 2016, portions of 212 Federal tax refunds totaling approximately $444,648 were deposited into Joshua's bank accounts and other bank accounts used in the scheme.

Additionally, Joshua submitted a false individual tax return for his own account in 2015, claiming income of only $10,346, when, in fact, he knew that he had additional income of approximately $133,923 for the tax year.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: C.D. Cal. Crim. Docket filed Sep. 28, 2018; C.D. Cal. Info. filed Sep. 28, 2018; C.D. Cal. Plea Agr. filed Sep. 28, 2018.