Updated at 6:58 a.m., Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Conspiring to defraud IRS earns son four-month term
Advertiser Staff
The son of the owner of a tax service was sentenced in U.S. District Court Monday to four months in prison for conspiring with his father and two others to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by filing and assisting in filing of false claims tax refunds.U.S. Attorney Edward H. Kubo said that according to the indictment, Richard James Basuel II and others conspired to defraud the IRS by advocating a "new way" to prepare federal income tax returns for their clients.
According to the indictment, the defendants fraudulently represented that IRS publications did not specifically state that Hawai'i was a part of the United States and therefore Hawai'i residents were considered to be foreigners for federal income purposes and were not subject to federal tax withholding.
More than 900 tax returns were prepared the "new way" and filed with the IRS. The tax returns claimed tax refunds in excess of $4 million.
Basuel II and his father, Richard James Basuel, ran RB Tax Service. The elder Basuel was sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier. The false claims for $4 million occurred on clients' tax returns in 1999.
Basuel II was sentenced for conspiring with his father, along with Dina Caleda and Rosalinda Tamayo. All were sentenced earlier and received sentences that ranged from six months to 40 months.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.
