Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh Tuesday, announced that Jonathan Hebb, 43, of Rosedale, pleaded guilty in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court to two counts of filing a false income tax return.
From January 2013 through March 2017, Hebb, who was a registered tax preparer in Maryland, prepared and filed Maryland income tax returns, for a fee, on behalf of numerous Maryland residents. Hebb was employed at Tax Care Financial Services in Baltimore County.
Many of the Maryland tax returns Hebb filed on behalf of his taxpayer clients included false information. Hebb included the false information to fraudulently minimize the taxpayers’ Maryland tax liabilities and increase the tax refunds the taxpayers received from the State of Maryland. Based on the false and fraudulent tax returns Hebb prepared and filed, his clients received tax refunds totaling approximately $89,633.00. Hebb faced imprisonment for up to 10 years on each count. Judge Wachs sentenced Hebb to 5 years’ incarceration, suspended, five years of supervised probation and ordered him to pay restitution of $89,633 to the State of Maryland. He is also prohibited from acting as a tax preparer.
“Filing fraudulent tax returns is equivalent to stealing from the State,” said Attorney General Frosh. “Tax preparers have a responsibility to file honest returns. Mr. Hebb’s actions were inexcusable.”
The case was investigated by the Comptroller’s Field Enforcement Division and prosecuted by the Criminal Investigations Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.