Mississippi man going to prison for preparing fake tax returns in Gulfport

A Mississippi man is headed to prison for more than 2 years for preparing fake tax returns for clients on the Mississippi Coast.

Orlando Reed was sentenced to 27 months in prison for his crimes, the Department of Justice announced in a press release.

Between 2012 and 2014 Reed prepared false tax returns to get larger IRS refunds for his clients by falsifying education credits, dependent information, federal income tax withholdings and retirement contributions, according to court documents.

Additionally, Reed misappropriated parts of his clients’ refunds in the form of prepaid debit cards.

Reed also spent some of the money on those debit cards before delivering them to clients.

U.S. District Judge Taylor B. McNeel also ordered Reed to serve one year of supervised release and to pay $69,185 in restitution.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kevin Schneider of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris.