Clarkston, GA — A tax preparer who was based in Clarkston was sentenced to two years in prison for fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Mohamed Hersi has been sentenced to federal prison for filing false tax returns,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “Hersi, who owned a tax preparation business, filed false returns on behalf of unwitting clients, collected more than $1 million in preparer fees, and then failed to disclose his own income to the IRS.”

After Hersi’s prison sentence is completed, he’ll have one year of supervised release, will have to complete 40 hours of community service and pay $439,543 in restitution. He also can’t prepare taxes for others, the U.S.Attorney’s Office said.

Here’s additional information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

According to U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: Hersi owned and operated Map Wireless Inc., d/b/a “1st Tax Center,” “Metro Tax Center,” and “Investment Financial Services” in Clarkston, Georgia. Between 2016 and 2020, Hersi prepared and filed false income tax returns for his clients that claimed false Schedule C items, withholdings, education credits, expenses, and itemized deductions to obtain inflated refunds to which his clients were not entitled.

On some occasions, Hersi provided one version of the return he planned to file to his clients, then filed a different version with the IRS which included both falsely claimed items and different direct deposit information.  During the scheme, Hersi collected over $1.2 million in fees from his clients, but never disclosed that income to the IRS, resulting in a loss of more than $400,000.

Mohamed Hersi, 40, of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced to two years in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release, and he was ordered to complete 40 hours of community service and to pay restitution in the amount of $439,543. Hersi’s sentence also includes a prohibition on his preparing taxes for others in the future.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Dillingham prosecuted the case.

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