Minnesota man pleads guilty to wire fraud, preparing false tax returns

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A Minnesota man pleaded guilty Friday to wire fraud and assisting in the preparation of a false income tax return, according to Department of Justice officials.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2012 to 2018, Beau Wesley Gensmer, of Prior Lake, devised a scheme to assist in the preparation of at least 50 false tax returns that claimed fraudulently inflated tax refunds on behalf of unwitting taxpayer clients.

Gensmer then hired a tax return preparer in Alaska, to whom he emailed knowingly false information, including fraudulent business losses and charitable contributions, for each return she prepared.

The return preparer relied on the information she received from Gensmer to prepare and electronically file false returns for each of his clients. Gensmer charged his clients a commission of approximately 30% of each fraudulent refund. In total, Gensmer caused a tax loss to the IRS of at least $3.5 million.

Gensmer is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and three years in prison for assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim for the District of Minnesota will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger for the District of Minnesota made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Ahmed Almudallal and Dominick Giovanniello of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.