Former Brick Tax Firm Owners Get Jail In Fraud Scheme

TRENTON, NJ -- The owners of a tax preparation business once based in Brick that filed fraudulent tax returns on behalf of inmates at various New Jersey prisons have been sentenced to multi-year prison terms, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division announced.

Kamal J. James, a/k/a “Bro Messiah Aziz El,” 34, of Seaford, Del., and Crystal G. Hawkins, a/k/a “Sis. Crystal Gabri El,” 39, of Laurel, Del., were sentenced to 8 years and 4 years, respectively, according to Fishman's office.

They were previously charged in a superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy, 16 counts of making false claims and three counts of mail fraud and were convicted on all counts following a one-week trial before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan, who imposed the sentences in Trenton federal court.

According to the superseding indictment and the evidence at trial:

Between October 2011 and October 2013, James and Hawkins operated Release Refunds, a purported tax preparation business – previously based in Brick and in Seaford – through which they solicited current and former New Jersey prison inmates as clients and then filed fraudulent tax returns on their behalf. The company is no longer in business.

James and Hawkins sent Release Refunds “promotional” flyers to inmates at various New Jersey prisons and halfway houses offering tax return preparation services. The pair asked inmates interested in Release Refunds’ services to provide basic identification information and to sign income tax returns and other IRS documents, but not to include any information about their income or withholdings. James and Hawkins then filled in the missing income information on the return forms, fabricating the inmates’ earnings to trigger fraudulent and inflated refunds.

During the course of the investigation, an undercover IRS-Criminal Investigation agent posing as an inmate in a New Jersey prison submitted a completed Release Refunds form and sent it to James and Hawkins. They then sent the “inmate” blank income tax forms and other IRS documents and instructions to sign the documents. James and Hawkins did not request any financial information from the undercover agent before preparing three fraudulent tax returns – including false income information that James and Hawkins provided – to be filed on behalf of the agent for tax years 2010 through 2012. The fraudulent returns resulted in several thousand dollars in refunds and a $1,485 fee for the defendants.

In addition to the prison terms, Judge Sheridan sentenced both James and Hawkins to three years of supervised release and ordered them to pay restitution of $570,897, Fishman's office said.