Man Pleads Guilty to Falsifying Tax Returns

A North Hollywood tax preparer pleaded guilty Wednesday to falsifying income tax returns of clients to obtain larger refund checks, which he kept, prosecutors said.

Tanleen Mashfu, 25, who operated his own tax return business, Instant Tax Refund, altered state and federal tax returns for more than 100 clients, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Steven Bauer.

Mashfu arranged to have the checks sent to him. When they arrived, he wrote checks to clients for the amount they were actually owed by the government and kept the additional money for himself, Bauer said.

Mashfu applied for more than $225,000 in false claims for 1988 and 1989, and state and federal governments sent him at least $50,000 of that, Bauer said.

The Internal Revenue Service was alerted to the scam because its computer system noted that more than 100 returns had been sent to the same address, a mail drop in the San Fernando Valley that Mashfu rented, the prosecutor said.

Mashfu faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1-million fine and could be ordered to make restitution. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 13.

In March, Mashfu was charged with three counts of insurance fraud for allegedly staging 31 automobile accidents in Tujunga to collect about $73,000 worth of insurance payments.