Three Florida men have pleaded guilty to running a tax fraud scheme called the "Note Program."
Christopher Johnson of Orlando and Jasen Harvey of Tampa pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States through the scheme, in which the two "prepared tax returns for clients that claimed large nonexistent income tax withholdings had been paid to the IRS, and sought large refunds based on those purported withholdings," according to the Department of Justice.
Arthur Grimes of Ocoee and Orlando pleaded guilty April 2 to obstructing the Internal Revenue Service in connection with the scheme.
The conspirators charged clients fees and required them to pay over a portion of the fraudulently obtained refunds, according to the DOJ.
Overall, the defendants claimed over $3 million in fraudulent refunds on their clients' returns, of which the IRS paid about $1.5 million, DOJ said.
Grimes participated in the scheme by causing four false income tax returns prepared by Harvey to be filed.
