A Monroeville tax preparer admitted Friday that he prepared bogus returns for clients following an investigation by the criminal division of the IRS.
Harvey Smith Jr., 58, who lives in New Kensington, waived indictment by grand jury and pleaded guilty to what’s called an information charging him with willfully aiding in the preparation of a false tax return.
An information is typically filed when someone is cooperating with prosecutors, sparing the U.S. attorney from the expense and time of seeking an indictment.
Prosecutors filed the information against Smith on Oct. 2.
According to the plea, Smith falsely reported that his clients incurred educational and business expenses when they didn’t in an attempt to get bigger refunds. He then took fees from clients, which reached as high as $1,000 per return, from those inflated refunds.
In all, prosecutors said, Smith’s fraud cost the government $138,426.
U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan set sentencing for Feb. 5.
Smith remains free until then.
Torsten covers the courts for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Reach him at jtorsteno@gmail.com.
