United States District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright sentenced Kauai tax preparer Dennis Nimkie, age 66, to 18 months imprisonment for falsifying information on an income tax return he prepared for another person. Nimkie pled guilty to one of 26 charges but agreed that the conduct on the remaining charges could be considered in determining his sentence and the amount of restitution owed the government.
Judge Seabright ordered Nimkie to pay restitution totaling $165,117.46 to four of his former clients and the United States.
According to the information presented to the court, Nimkie had several businesses which performed bookkeeping and tax preparation services, one of which was Kauai Bookkeepers and Tax Preparation.
Nimkie admitted that he prepared individual tax returns for clients that he knew contained false expenses in order to obtain tax refunds or reduce their tax liability. The indictment alleged 26 such offenses from 2003 to 2005, with tax losses of up to $18,300 for each count.
United States Attorney Nakakuni said that Monday’s deadline for filing federal income tax returns for the calendar year 2010 is a reminder that we all have a responsibility, not only to file income tax returns, but to present accurate information to the Internal Revenue Service, and that professional tax preparers who deliberately and systematically falsify material information for their clients can expect vigorous pursuit from authorities.
