5 charged with preparing
false tax returns for clients
A federal grand jury indicted the head of a local tax preparation service and several of its employees Thursday for submitting false federal tax returns for hundreds of clients between 1997 and 1999.
In a 148-count indictment, the secret panel charged that RB Tax Service owner Richard Basuel, his son Richard Basuel II and employees Dina Caleda, Rosalinda Tamayo and Vivian Soong prepared false tax returns and aided and abetted in the preparation of false tax returns.
The alleged scheme resulted in the filing of more than 900 false federal returns and more than $4 million in falsely claimed tax refunds, the indictment said.
The federal charges are in addition to several criminal actions in state Circuit Court involving the filing of false state income taxes by RB Tax Service and its employees.
Basuel previously served a six-month jail term after he was convicted in July 2001 of filing false tax returns by claiming Hawaii as a foreign country and overstating his clients' itemized deductions.
According to the federal indictment, Basuel and his employees advised their clients to report income they earned in Hawaii as if it were earned in a foreign country. This allowed clients to file for refunds of all of their federal tax withholdings.
RB owner Basuel is charged with 46 counts of preparing a false tax return and aiding and abetting the preparation of a false tax return, while his son Richard faces 21 counts. Soong was charged with 30 counts.
Caleda was charged with 26 counts, and Tamayo faces 24 counts.
If convicted, the defendants each face up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each count.
