Last week a federal jury in Hattiesburg, Mississippi convicted a certified public accountant of conspiracy to defraud the United States, four counts of filing false tax returns, and six counts of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns. Carl Nicholson was convicted of the charges on Friday February 8, 2019.
Court documents and trial evidence showed that from 2012 to 2014 the defendant conspired with a client to falsely classify personal expenses as business expenses. Nicholson also filed false tax returns on the client’s behalf. On one occasion, Nicholson directed a $250,000 payment to one client’s personal trust to be classified as a business expense.
The defendant was also found guilty of filing his own false personal income tax returns for the tax years 2012 through 2015. On those tax returns, he falsely claimed expenses, underreported the gain on the sale of his accounting firm Nicholson & Company, and failed to report income. Nicholson is now scheduled to be sentenced on May 23, 2019.
At that time, he will face a maximum of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge. Each charge of filing false tax returns and aiding in the preparation of false tax returns could bring three years. Further details are available here.