Date: June 7, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov A federal grand jury in Detroit, Michigan, returned an indictment today charging a professional tax return preparer with filing false tax returns for himself and his business, obstructing the IRS, and other tax crimes. According to the indictment, Raj Paruthi, of Novi, owned and operated Raj Paruthi CPA PC, an accounting and tax preparation business located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For tax years 2013 and 2014, Paruthi allegedly filed false corporate and individual income tax returns on which he did not report hundreds of thousands of dollars in business receipts and profits he personally received from the business. Paruthi allegedly also did not disclose to the Department of Treasury a foreign bank account he held in India, which he was required to do by law. According to the indictment, he also made false statements to the IRS about his personal and business finances, including the types of payments his tax preparation business received, the number and location of his business bank accounts and his personal receipt of funds from the business. Paruthi allegedly also did not file a 2015 tax return for MVD Advisory Services LLC, another company he owned and operated. If convicted, Paruthi faces up to three years in prison for each false tax return count, three years in prison for interfering with the IRS, one year in prison for failing to file a tax return, and five years in prison for not disclosing a foreign bank account. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan made the announcement. IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Kenneth C. Vert and Catriona M. Coppler of the Justice Department's Tax Division are prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
