From at least 2014 through 2018, Kwasi Kwarteng operated under the name KK Tax Service –despite not being registered with the IRS as required by law – filing more than 1,195 tax returns in the names of clients, charging approximately $150 per return
WORCESTER—A Worcester man was sentenced on Thursday to a year and a day in prison and ordered never to prepare taxes again after pleading guilty to facilitating a scheme that bilked the IRS out of more than half a million dollars.
Kwasi Kwarteng, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Margaret R. Guzman to one year and one day in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office-District of Massachusetts.
Kwarteng was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $346,186 to the Internal Revenue Service and a special assessment of $1,300. Additionally, Kwarteng has been subject to a lifelong permanent injunction, preventing him from preparing or aiding in the filing of federal tax returns for any individual or entity. This action follows Kwarteng’s admission of guilt in April 2023, where he pleaded to 13 counts of aiding and assisting in the submission of false federal tax returns.
From at least 2014 through 2018, Kwarteng operated under the name KK Tax Service –despite not being registered with the IRS as required by law – filing more than 1,195 tax returns in the names of clients, charging approximately $150 per return.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Kwarteng added false information to hundreds of the returns to claim deductions for fictitious medical expenses, personal property taxes, gifts to charity, Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contributions, and unreimbursed employee business expenses. The false returns resulted in some clients paying lower taxes than they owed and, in most cases, resulted in clients receiving tax refunds to which they were not entitled. Kwarteng caused more than half a million dollars in losses to the IRS.
Charlene Arsenault can be reached at carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org
