Date: June 10, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov On June 7, Jean Wesner Pierre Louis, of Miami, Florida was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay over $4,000,000 in restitution for aiding and assisting the preparation and presentation of false tax returns. Pierre Louis was the president and chief operating officer of a tax preparation business operating in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Pierre Louis pled guilty in February 2024. For tax years 2015 through 2019, on multiple occasions Pierre Louis prepared tax returns for his clients that falsely claimed certain credits that increased the amount of refund owed or decreased the amount of taxes owed, such as: the American Opportunity Credit, a refundable credit which allowed taxpayers to claim a credit for qualified education expenses paid for an eligible student in the first four years of higher education; and the Credit for Federal Taxes Paid on Fuels (Fuel Tax Credit), which could be claimed for fuel used for certain specified purposes. For those same tax years, on multiple occasions Pierre Louis prepared tax returns for his clients that falsely claimed losses on an IRS Schedule C for businesses that did not exist, which also had the effect of increasing the amount of refund owed or decreasing the amount of taxes owed. U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck. IRS-CI Miami investigated the case.
