BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.
BOSTON – A Lynn tax preparer pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston yesterday to filing fraudulent personal federal tax returns and attempting to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Arismendy Ramos, a/k/a Arismendi Ramos, a/k/a Aris Almonte, 42, pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with four counts of filing false tax returns and two counts of obstructing the IRS. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Feb. 3, 2016.
Ramos owned and operated Almonte Tax, a tax preparation service in Lynn, and personally prepared tax returns for numerous clients. From 2008 through 2013, Ramos allegedly filed false forms with the IRS claiming that he paid clients to work for him when in fact they had never been employed or paid by him. Ramos then claimed the bogus wages as business expenses on his own tax returns, thereby reducing his personal tax liabilities. Furthermore, Ramos instructed two clients that they should lie if they were asked about the false wages.
The charging statutes provide a sentence of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 on each count. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
