Justice Department Sues to Shut Down San Diego-area Tax Preparation Firm

WASHINGTON - The United States has sued the operators of a San Diego-area tax preparation firm, asking a federal court to permanently bar them from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction suit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego against Roosevelt Kyle and Rebecca Tyree, both of San Diego, and their businesses—Century One Resorts Ltd., COA Financial Group LLC, and Eagle Financial Services LLC.

According to the government’s complaint, the defendants operate their business in National City, Calif., and have prepared more than 12,000 federal tax returns since 2000. The suit alleges that Kyle and Tyree understated their customers’ tax liabilities by preparing returns with fabricated business-expense and charitable deductions. The complaint alleges that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that the defendants’ misconduct has caused losses to the U.S. Treasury totaling $18 million.

According to the complaint, the IRS has penalized Kyle three times in the past for understating customers’ tax liabilities. In 2002 a federal jury found Kyle guilty of failing to file his own 1995-1998 tax returns.

Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 295 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website, as is information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division.