CA accountant barred from operating tax scheme

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CA accountant barred from operating tax scheme

[##_1L|1177299369.jpg|width="180" height="142" alt=""|_##]WASHINGTON – A federal judge in Los Angeles has permanently barred Stephen Drake of Prescott, Ariz., and Kenneth Sorenson of Buellton, Calif., from promoting or operating an alleged tax fraud scheme, the Justice Department announced today.

Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California signed the civil permanent injunction, which the defendants agreed to without admitting wrongdoing. The order also bars Sorenson, a CPA whose office in is Solvang, Calif., from preparing federal income tax returns for customers based on the alleged tax fraud scheme.

The government alleged in the complaint filed in this case that Drake and Sorenson devised and operated a scheme that helped some members of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians claim bogus deductions on their federal income tax returns to offset income the members receive from the Band’s casino operations at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif. The complaint also stated that each Band member received over $300,000 in casino distributions in 2004 and over $400,000 last year.

The injunction order requires Drake and Sorenson to mail a copy of the injunction to all customers who participated in the scheme and to any other persons to whom they sold a similar scheme in the past five years.

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