BOSTON, Sept. 6, 2017—A former tax preparer today admitted 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 pleaded guilty to 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 undertook between 2011 and 2014, including a period between 2012 and 2013, when he worked for a tax preparation service in Lowell. Huertas was charged in Suffolk County because he filed the false claims with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue in Chelsea.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge William Sullivan sentenced Huertas to six months in a house of corrections followed by five years of probation. At the request of Assistant District Attorney George Barker, Sullivan ordered Huertas to pay $9,750 in restitution.

Had the case proceeded to trial, Barker would have introduced evidence and testimony to prove that Huertas defrauded the Commonwealth and its residents out of thousands of dollars in excessive tax refunds and attempted to obtain tens of thousands more.

Barker would have shown that Huertas forged or falsified information on his own tax returns for 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 in order to receive greater refunds than he was entitled to. Barker would also have demonstrated that, while working for a tax preparation service, Huertas 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. Finally, Barker would have proven that Huertas provided false information in two other clients’ tax returns that yielded them greater refunds than they were entitled to.

The case was investigated by the Department of Revenue’s Criminal Investigations Bureau and Suffolk fraud prosecutors assigned to the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit.

–30–

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