Date: December 1, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov A Nevada man was sentenced November 30 to 13 years and three months in prison for filing false tax returns, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, money laundering and impersonating an FBI agent. According to court documents and statements made in court, King Isaac Umoren owned and operated Universal Tax Services (UTS), a tax preparation business based in Las Vegas. Umoren used that business to engage in two separate fraud schemes. First, from 2012 through 2016, Umoren prepared and filed with the IRS tax returns for clients that included false deductions and fictitious businesses in an effort to generate larger refunds than the clients were entitled to receive. At times, Umoren used the names and the IRS Preparer Tax Identification Numbers (PTINs) of other UTS employees without their knowledge or consent, making it seem as if they, not he, had prepared the false returns. Umoren also required his clients to use a refund anticipation check program, which he then utilized to secretly take fees out of the clients' tax refunds without their knowledge. On Feb. 7, 2016, Umoren posed as an FBI agent, wearing a fake badge and tactical gear, and drove to a client's house with police lights attached to his vehicle to demand payment of a tax preparation fee. Second, in May 2016, Umoren attempted to sell UTS. To induce potential buyers to purchase the company at an inflated price, he provided fraudulent documents – including forged bank statements, fabricated return preparation fee reports, false personal tax returns and other tax forms that had never actually been filed with the IRS – as well as the stolen tax and personal identifying information of approximately 12,000 taxpayers who were not UTS clients. Eventually, Umoren succeeded in inducing a victim to purchase UTS for approximately $3.8 million. He used the sale proceeds to purchase land in Henderson and an automobile. In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon ordered Umoren to serve three years of supervised release and pay $9,699,887 in restitution to the United States and the other victims of his fraud schemes. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada made the announcement. IRS Criminal Investigation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the FBI investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Sarah A. Kiewlicz and Patrick Burns of the Tax Division prosecuted the case.
