Date: March 13, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Orlando, FL — U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza has sentenced Marc Arthur Eliassaint to 21 months in federal prison for filing false tax returns and aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. Eliassaint entered a guilty plea on Nov. 16, 2023. According to court documents, Eliassaint prepared and filed false tax returns for himself for tax years 2016 through 2019 by claiming false fuel tax credits, itemized deductions, business losses, and misstating his income and federal income tax withholding amounts. Eliassaint also owned and operated a tax preparation business named 360 Tax Services, LLC, and filed 35 false tax returns on behalf of other individuals for tax years 2016 through 2020. These tax returns similarly claimed false fuel tax credits, itemized deductions, business losses and profits, and misstated income and federal income tax withholding amounts, which fraudulently inflated the amounts of the individuals’ tax refunds. “Today’s sentencing highlights the determination IRS CI Special Agents have when they pursue tax preparers who exploit the tax system,” said IRS CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Lani Rosado-Espinal. “The dishonesty and complete disregard exhibited by individuals like Eliassaint not only undermines the trust in our tax system but also violates the expectations that all Americans are supposed to adhere to. IRS-CI is leaving no stone unturned in our efforts to combat fraudulent return preparers and will persist in safeguarding taxpayer funds.” This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Diane Hu, Jennifer Harrington, and Ranganath Manthripragada. CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
