The Justice Department has filed suit against a Maine tax preparer to keep her from preparing tax returns for others, even though she is currently in prison.
The suit charged Carol East Palesky, a Topsham, Maine, resident who operated East Accounting Services, with preparing federal income tax returns claiming inflated deductions and credits. The complaint alleged that the returns she prepared resulted in an understatement of her clients' tax liabilities. The complaint also claimed that Palesky's conduct interfered with the enforcement of the tax laws and caused harm to the government and her clients.
Palesky is currently serving time in the Maine Correctional Center. She received a 16-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to one count of theft by misapplication. In that case, Palesky was accused of taking funds from one of her firm's customers.
She also was convicted in 1996 on charges of altering dates on petitions she collected for a referendum on a local property tax cap.
