MIAMI, CMC – The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida has entered a permanent injunction against Haitian tax return preparers Katiusca “Kathy” Rigaud, Andy Jean and their company, Bar Professional Services LLC (Tax Kings & Queens), barring them from preparing US federal income tax returns for others.
The complaint alleges that Rigaud, also known as Kathy Leger, Andy Jean, and Tax Kings & Queens — along with another defendant who was not subject to Friday’s order — prepared nearly 3,000 tax returns between 2013 and 2018, with the vast majority claiming a refund.
According to the complaint, “the defendants did not consistently identify themselves as the preparer on returns they prepared, as required by law.”
The complaint further alleges that “the defendants’ practices included submitting false Schedules C (Profit or Loss from Business) for fictitious businesses to secure bogus earned income tax credits for their customers, and claiming false employee business expense deductions on Schedules A.”
The DOJ said Rigaud, Jean, and Tax King & Queens consented to the permanent ban.
The fourth defendant, Janet Morales, has not responded to the complaint, the DOJ said.
“Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ “Dirty Dozen Tax Scams”, and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant,” urged the DOJ, referring to the Internal Revenue Service.
In the past decade, the DOJ said its Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers.
