BOSTON, March 15, 2017—A former tax preparer faces arraignment tomorrow after an investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and the Suffolk County Grand Jury revealed evidence that he fraudulently obtained thousands of dollars in state income tax refunds for himself and others by filing false returns, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

RAFAEL HUERTAS, Jr., (D.O.B. 2/27/85) of Lawrence was named in a 17-count indictment returned March 2 charging him with six counts of presenting a false claim upon a public agency, six counts of delivering a fraudulent document, two counts of willfully assisting in preparation of a fraudulent return, and single counts of willful failure to file a tax return, identity fraud, and money laundering. The charges stem from actions Huertas allegedly undertook between 2011 and 2014, including a period between 2012 and 2013, when he worked for a tax preparation service in Lowell. Huertas is charged in Suffolk County because he allegedly filed the false claims with the Department of Revenue in Chelsea.

Suffolk prosecutors and the DOR Criminal Investigations Bureau allege that Huertas forged or falsified information on his own tax returns for 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, receiving greater refunds than he was entitled to, and failed to file a tax return for 2014. They also allege that, while working for a tax preparation service, he used the personal information of one prior client of that service to open a bank account and file a fraudulent tax return to obtain an additional refund without the client’s knowledge or consent, and provided false information in two other clients’ returns that led to them receiving greater refunds than they were entitled to.

The fraudulent returns led to more than $13,500 in excessive tax refunds, authorities said, with that money coming from the Commonwealth and its residents. Through his alleged schemes, however, Huertas sought to defraud the DOR out of more than $36,000 in refunds that were not issued.

Huertas will be arraigned on the indictments tomorrow morning in the Magistrate Session of Suffolk Superior Court.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.