Murrieta Tax Preparer Gets Probation In Bogus Returns Case

MURIETTA, CA — A Murrieta-based unregistered tax preparer who falsified several dozen federal returns to fatten his clients' refunds, without them knowing that he was violating the law, was sentenced Wednesday to 12 months of home detention.

Patrick Nathaniel McCall, 39, was also ordered to serve 500 hours of community service during his five-year federal probationary sentence, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Ranee Katzenstein.

He is expected to be ordered to pay restitution of more than $400,000, the prosecutor said.

McCall pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding in the preparation of fraudulent income tax returns in February before U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee to settle a case investigated by the Internal Revenue Service.

McCall could have faced up to six years in federal prison and fines totaling $500,000, according to the IRS.

The defendant carried out the scheme between 2012 and 2014, preparing 29 tax returns with deliberately false information to ensure his clients received greater sums back from the government. The tax loss stemming from the bogus filings was estimated to be roughly $176,000, according to the IRS.

Agents said McCall never identified himself as a paid tax preparer on the forms, which were signed by his clients, routinely attached a Schedule C to income tax statements showing net losses incurred by the filers, and claimed refunds owed the taxpayers because of the losses.

The filers were paying him $500 for each annual submission to the IRS, as well as $20 monthly stipends for retention of his services, according to investigators.

In one case cited in documents filed in Los Angeles federal court, a client was identified as a consultant to a non-existent business called Video Tech, showing losses for 2011 and 2012. However, the woman disavowed any knowledge of the consultancy or McCall's use of Video Tech on her return.

The defendant, who has no documented prior felony convictions, was indicted by a federal grand jury last April.

— By City News Service and Patch Editor Renee Schiavone