Federal Court holds Florida Tax Return Preparer in Contempt

A federal court in Miami, Florida, held that Jessyca Bernard has violated a permanent injunction entered against her on June 25, 2018, which barred her from preparing tax returns for others.

Bernard admitted in documents filed with the court that the United States gathered sufficient evidence demonstrating that she violated the injunction by directly or indirectly preparing 438 tax returns for others, using her husband’s name, Dave Moulton, to conceal her involvement. Bernard agreed to pay the United States $79,000 as reimbursement of its investigative expenses and disgorgement of fees she received from refunds claimed on returns she prepared in violation of the injunction. The investigation was undertaken by the Tax Division as part of its effort to monitor the conduct of return preparers who have been enjoined from preparing returns, and hold those who have continued to do so accountable for violating that ban. 

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered Bernard to pay these amounts and barred her from working at or maintaining any interest in any entity that offers tax preparation services.

The injunction barring Bernard from preparing tax returns remains in effect, and the court authorized the United States to continue to monitor her compliance with its orders.

“Fraudulent tax return preparers abuse our nation’s tax laws and take advantage of those customers who pay them to file a correct tax return,” said Richard Zuckerman, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division. “We are committed to working with our IRS partners to root out these perpetrators, particularly those who continue to violate the law even after being ordered by a court to cease their activities.”

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers and tax scheme promoters. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found here. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.