A Columbus businessman pleaded guilty today to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers of the Southern District of Ohio.

According to information provided in court, Abdikarim Abdirahman, 57, was the general manager of Diversity Home Health Care (Diversity), a home health care agency operating in Columbus and Springfield, Ohio. After obtaining personal identifying information of several individuals, Abdirahman created and submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) documentation fraudulently indicating that Diversity had hired and paid those individuals. From 2009 through 2012, Abdirahman provided this false information to Diversity’s tax return preparer, representing that Diversity paid those individuals hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation and that these payments were deductible to Diversity as business expenses. In addition, Abdirahman caused these sham employees to falsely report on their individual tax returns that they had received income from Diversity, to claim credits, and to request refunds from the IRS. In total, Abdirahman’s conduct caused a tax loss of more than $540,000.

U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus will set sentencing at a later date. Abdirahman faces up to three years in prison and one year of supervised release, as well as monetary penalties and restitution.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney DeVillers thanked special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General, and Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Thomas Voracek and William Guappone of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the Division’s website.