Dominican in NY Accused of Fraud Totaling Over $100 Million, Reports AlMomento.net

Rafael Alvarez was arrested in New York accused of helping to prepare false tax returns that resulted in a fraud of over $100 million in losses for the Government. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office charged Alvarez, the founder of ATAX firm in 1986 with conspiracy to defraud the United States, which could result in a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Additionally, he is also accused of complicity in filing false federal tax returns, attempting to interfere with internal revenue laws, making false returns, and aggravated identity theft, with penalties ranging from two to three years.

Alvarez, known as ‘The Tax Wizard’, orchestrated a scheme to file tens of thousands of federal tax returns with false information to reduce tax payments to the IRS, generating profits of over $15 million for his company between 2016 and 2019. He was arrested on the last day of the tax deadline.

Between 2010 and 2020, the Bronx County ATAX office prepared around 90,000 tax returns. Alvarez, age 60, prepared tax returns for clients and supervised other ATAX personnel to do the same. The false information included fabricated deductions, business expenses, and tax credits to lower taxes and increase refunds. Alvarez and an employee even lied to an IRS agent according to the Prosecutor’s Office. – EFE