Apple Valley Man Convicted of Filing Over $1 Million in False/Fraudulent Tax Returns

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LOS ANGELES, Calif. – An Apple Valley man who claimed to be a licensed CPA was convicted in a tax scene collecting over $1 million in fraudulent refunds, officials said.

The tax preparer was found guilty on Thursday, April 25, 2019, for filing false and fraudulent tax returned with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as part of the scheme. Scott Douglas Cutting Sr., 69, was found guilty by the federal jury after a three-day trial and two hours of deliberations. Cutting was convicted of six felony counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns. The jury also acquitted Cutting of one of the counts against him.

Cutting at one point, was a CPA but his license had expired in 1989, officials said. He was still portraying himself as a CPA, preparing and filing tax returns. The refunds were direct deposited in his bank accounts. Cutting kept hundreds or thousands of each return filed, sometimes giving clients nothing or only a small portion of the refund. “Cutting filed on behalf of low- or no-income individuals income tax returns that falsely claimed income or credits to fraudulently create a tax refund,” Department of Justice officials said. When filed, he did not identify himself as the preparer and filed returns for people using their names and social security numbers of their dependents without their permission, court records showed.

The fraudulent and false tax returns were prepared between 2008 and 2012, with over 314 returns filed by Cutting. Approximately $1.09 million was processed in refunds related to the case. Cutting is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on June 27, 2019, where he faces up to 18 years in federal prison.