Tax Preparer Sentenced to Federal Prison for Tax Fraud

A federal judge in Orlando sentenced tax preparer Jean Marie Boursiquot to two and a half years in federal prison for conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service earlier this month. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, the district that also includes the Tampa Bay area.

Boursiquot pleaded guilty to the charges back in May. In addition to prison time, Boursiquot will also be required to pay $149,456.59 in restitution to the United States government.

According to court documents, Boursiquot a tax preparation company and prepared tax returns for Haitian immigrants. Boursiquot apparently forged his clients’ signatures on the tax returns and had the IRS mail him the refund checks directly. He then forged the clients’ endorsements on the checks and deposited the checks into his business account. He passed along some of the funds due back to his clients but kept a portion for himself.

In 2002, Boursiquot received nearly $400,000 from the IRS for his clients but retained more than $250,000 of the money. In 2003, he received more than $500,000 from the IRS and disbursed only about $100,000 of it to his clients.

Boursiquot himself, apparently, did not file a tax return for the 2002 tax year. In 2003, he claimed only $41,341.00 in income yet lived in a $700,000 home.

Three years ago, Boursiquot was ordered by a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida to cease acting as a tax preparer and to pay back over $850,000.

After he is released from confinement, Boursiquot will be on supervised release for three years. One of the conditions of his release is completion of substance abuse treatment – which may, in fact, give us a big clue as to why he felt he needed this money and where it all went.