Florida Men Sentenced to Prison for Scheme to Prepare False Tax Returns for Clients

Three Florida men were sentenced this week for tax crimes related to a scheme to prepare false tax returns for clients. Jonathan Carillo was sentenced to 121 months in prison, Franklin Carter Jr. was sentenced to 84 months in prison, and Diandre T. Mentor was sentenced to 36 months in prison. 

The following is according to court documents and statements made in court: from 2016 to 2020, Carter and Carrillo owned and operated Neighborhood Advance Tax (NAT), a return preparation business with a dozen offices throughout Florida. Mentor was employed there as a return preparer and from 2018 and 2019 he was the manager of the Orlando office. Carter, Carrillo, Mentor, and their co-conspirators fraudulently inflated client tax refunds by fabricating deductions on their returns. They also held periodic training sessions at which they taught other NAT employees how to prepare fraudulent tax returns.

In 2020, Mentor and his co-conspirators started their own tax return preparation business called  Smart Tax & Finance. Like NAT, Mentor and his co-conspirators prepared false tax returns for clients which included fabricated deductions. Mentor and his co-conspirators also taught franchise owners and employees how to prepare false returns for clients. In total, Mentor caused a tax loss to the IRS of $3,090,077.

In 2021, Carter, Carrillo, and their co-conspirators started a new return preparation business, Taxmates, which operated out of the same offices that NAT previously used. As with NAT, Carter, Carrillo, and others used Taxmates to prepare false tax returns for clients. Many of those returns included false deductions. Carter, Carrillo and their co-conspirators also taught franchise owners and employees how to prepare false returns for clients. In total, they caused a tax loss to the IRS exceeding $12 million.

Several other co-conspirators have been sentenced for their roles in the scheme including Emmanuel Almonor and Adon Hemley, who were sentenced to 57 months in prison and 46 months in prison, respectively.

In addition to their prison sentences, U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger for the Middle District of Florida ordered Mentor to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $3,090,077 in restitution to the United States; Carter to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $12,543,946 in restitution to the United States; and Carrillo to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $12,170,066 in restitution to the United States.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Michael L. Jones of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Testerman for the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case.