A Union County man admitted 12 counts of preparing a false tax return, federal officials announced today.
According to federal officials, Terrence LeGall, 69, of Linden, pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, to a superseding indictment charging him with 12 counts of aiding and abetting the preparation of a false tax return.
According to the documents filed on the record and statements made in court:
Between 2013 and 2017, LeGall, the sole operator of a financial adviser and tax preparer service in Union County, New Jersey, called LeGall Group Inc. (LGI), prepared numerous false tax returns for his clients in which he included fake charitable contributions, unreimbursed business expenses and business losses that he knew his clients had not incurred.
Documents state, this resulted in a reduction in the client's tax liability and a fraudulent refund from the IRS.
Officials say, LeGall acted as a “ghost preparer” – although he prepared income tax returns for his clients, he did not identify himself anywhere on the returns as a preparer and filed the returns in a manner that made it look like the taxpayers had filed the returns.
LeGall’s actions caused losses in excess of $300,000 to the U.S. Treasury.
According to officals, each count of false preparation of an income tax return carries a maximum prison sentence of three years and a $250,000 fine.
As part of his plea agreement, LeGall has agreed to pay the government restitution in the amount of $314,225 and to file amended returns and pay any outstanding taxes LGI owes from 2012 through the present. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 29, 2023.