Suburban Chicago tax preparer charged with filing more than 50 falsified income tax returns
A Chicago area tax preparer has been indicted on federal charges, accused of filing dozens of bogus income tax returns on behalf of clients, in order to help them get refunds they weren't entitled to.
Cedrick Taylor, 40, of west suburban Winfield, has been charged with 45 counts of willfully preparing a false tax return for others and six counts of filing false tax returns for himself.
Federal prosecutors said Taylor helped prepare 45 individual tax returns on behalf of clients for the tax years between 2018 and 2023, falsely overstating or misrepresenting tax credits, deductions, and business or education expenses in order to lower their tax liability.
The fraudulent returns helped his clients obtain tax refunds they did not actually qualify for.
Prosecutors said he also falsified his own tax returns for several years, significantly underreporting his actual income, and often claiming he'd paid qualified education expenses at Triton College, when he was not actually a student there.
Taylor's first court date has not yet been set.
