The Brief A Texas business owner and two employees received federal prison sentences for a multi-year conspiracy to file fraudulent tax returns. The group manufactured fake business expenses on client returns, sometimes using email to notify clients of the fraud, costing the government millions. The owner received 50 months in prison and his employees up to 26 months, while two other co-conspirators await sentencing.



Three Texas tax return preparers, including a business owner and two of his employees, have been sentenced to federal prison for a multi-year conspiracy that utilized fake deductions to secure fraudulent refunds, costing the U.S. government millions of dollars, federal authorities announced Wednesday.

Texas tax preparers sentenced

Mathews Chacko, the owner of the tax preparation business in North Austin, was sentenced to 50 months in prison. His employees, Anish Pillai and Subhala Suresh, were sentenced to 26 months and 18 months, respectively. Two additional tax preparers involved in the scheme have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

The backstory:

According to court documents and statements made during the proceedings, the defendants conspired to defraud the United States between January 2019 and October 2022 by manufacturing false business expenses on client tax returns. The manufactured deductions artificially reduced the total taxes owed to the IRS, generating substantial, unearned refunds for their clients.

The conspiracy involved varying levels of client awareness.

In some instances, Chacko and his co-conspirators inserted false business expenses without the clients' knowledge, later providing fabricated explanations to justify the entries if questioned.

At other times, the preparers explicitly notified clients via email that they were submitting falsified information to the IRS.

The fraudulent operations resulted in widespread financial damage to the federal government, with each sentenced individual admitting to significant tax losses.

Mathews Chacko pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS, admitting his actions caused a federal 

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