Vancouver man pleads guilty in tax fraud case

An unlicensed Vancouver tax preparer pleaded guilty Monday to federal tax fraud charges for operating a business that filed false tax documents on behalf of immigrants.

Saul Richard Valdez, 47, entered the guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent returns. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 28, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.

Prosecutors say between 2016 and 2018, Valdez operated Conexion Latina and used programs, such as TaxAct and TurboTax, to prepare taxes on behalf of his immigrant clients. As part of a plea agreement, Valdez admitted to claiming false expenses, donations and credits on 36 tax returns, totaling $54,045. Valdez has agreed to pay that amount in restitution, the news release states.

However, prosecutors say a statistical sample of 50 of some 2,000 tax returns Valdez filed shows the total tax loss is $1,293,921.

“Mr. Valdez operated a business providing services to primarily non-English speaking clients, who had little understanding of the U.S. tax system,” U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said in the news release. “Rather than truly assist them, his false deductions, expenses and credits put them at risk of owing back taxes and penalties, not to mention the stress of contact from the IRS.”

Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of 30 months in prison, according to the news release. The maximum sentence for the charge is three years.