3 Queens Tax Preparers Charged With Fraud: DA

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Three professional tax preparers in Queens were arrested after prosecutors said they knowingly included false information on their clients' tax returns to save them money, cheating the city and state out of thousands of dollars in tax revenue.

Yachun Lin of ETS Tax Services in Flushing and husband-and-wife duo Maria Isabel Chabur and Nayib Chabu of La Oficina En Astoria were arraigned Wednesday night on tax fraud and forgery charges after authorities caught them filing tax returns with made-up or incorrect details, prosecutors announced.

“We are now in the midst of tax season when thousands of people will seek assistance in filing their tax returns. Tax-payers must always be careful when hiring someone to handle their finances," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. "Unscrupulous action taken by a preparer could lead to serious liabilities for individuals."

Authorities started investigating the schemes in 2019, when an undercover investigator met with Lin at ETS Tax Services on Main Street and asked her to prepare two years of tax returns.

Lin suggested that he list the address of a friend or family members outside New York City rather than his own, claiming it would save him $2,000 a year in taxes, according to prosecutors.

At Woodside's La Oficina En Astoria, another undercover investigator asked the Chaburs for help last year filing a 2018 tax return.

The couple filed the tax return with a made-up $5,500 IRA deduction they hadn't even discussed when the undercover investigator approached them for filing help, prosecutors said.

“Hard-working New Yorkers entrust their tax preparer to operate in their best interest — and with integrity and honesty," New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Michael R. Schmidt said. "Tax preparers who abuse that trust are imperiling their clients, who are ultimately responsible for the returns they sign, and depriving the state of tax revenue for vital services."