Ex-Tax Preparer Gets Nearly 8-Year Term
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A former tax preparer has been sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison for his jury conviction on bank fraud, tax fraud and money laundering charges.
The Advocate reports Chief U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson ordered 42-year-old Ronald Wayne Wilkerson on Wednesday to forfeit $470,000 in seized assets and pay the federal government another $485,000 in profits he received as a result of his crimes. The judge also ordered Wilkerson to pay $500,000 to HSBC Bank for losses the bank suffered after granting refund-anticipation loans to 250 of Wilkerson's clients, whose fraudulent refund claims were rejected by the IRS.
At Wilkerson's trial in June, defense attorney Todd S. Clemons argued that the jury of seven women and five men should not trust the testimony of Wilkerson employees.
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