Lake Worth Tax Return Preparer Convicted On Tax Fraud, Contempt Charges

Following a five-week trial, a federal jury in West Palm Beach has found defendant Louis Wayne Ratfield, a Lake Worth, Fla., tax return preparer, guilty on 50 charges against him in connection with his participation in a tax fraud scheme to hide income and assets in bogus trusts, Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael Yasofsky, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division announced today.

On April 13, 2006, a 56-count indictment was returned charging Ratfield with preparing for clients and himself fraudulent federal individual and trust income tax returns, corruptly impeding the enforcement of the tax laws and criminal contempt. Prior to trial, the government dismissed five of those counts. The indictment alleged, and evidence offered at trial established, that Ratfield operated a tax preparation business, LWR Accounting and Tax Service, which was later called LWR Financial Services Trust. The businesses were located in Lake Worth where Ratfield also resided. Read more at usdoj.gov.