A federal jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, convicted Paul Senat today of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns and theft of government funds, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to the evidence presented at trial, from at least 2012 to 2016, Paul Senat was the owner and operator of multiple tax return preparation businesses in Palm Beach and surrounding areas. Through the businesses, Senat falsified his clients’ returns by reporting fictitious business losses and false education credits in order to fraudulently inflate their refunds.

Following the jury verdict, Senat was taken into custody. United States District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz scheduled sentencing for Jan. 27, 2020.

Senat faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for theft of government funds and three years for each count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false returns. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, forfeiture, and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Lauren Archer of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.