Riverton man sentenced to 18 months in prison on tax fraud charges

A Riverton man was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison on federal tax fraud charges after he fraudulently prepared tax documents for over 20 clients.

Jason Hines, 50, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of false and fraudulent statements in June 2022. He was sentenced by Judge Sue Myerscough of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, who also sentenced him to 36 months of supervised release. He was facing up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the wire fraud charges.

Federal prosecutors said at the sentencing hearing that Hines had willfully prepared false tax returns and falsified information relating to business property losses and education credits.

Hines had been indicted in March of 2020 on charges that he had fraudulently prepared 34 federal tax returns for 20 clients, improperly reporting business income and expenses, the sale of business vehicles and education credits and concealing the errors.

Court documents state that he diverted a percentage of the losses to his bank account, bringing in over $100,000 in falsely claimed client refunds. The returns were prepared between February 2016 and April 2017.

He repeated the process for two state tax returns, according to prosecutors, creating a scheme to defraud the Illinois Department of Revenue. Hines claimed over $30,000 in losses from IDOR.

The Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigations Division and the IDOR assisted in investigating Hines' actions. As part of his sentences, Hines will have to pay the total amount in losses – $194,910 – in restitution.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Riverton man to serve 18 months in prison on tax fraud charges