A Minnesota man has been indicted for filing false tax returns and making fraudulent claims for tax refunds totaling more than $500,000, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen for the District of Minnesota on Mar. 20.
The indictment alleges that Philip Nelson Green of Crookston filed individual income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 that included false information about wages, tax withholdings, and child and dependent care expenses. Green is also accused of submitting a second amended return for 2021 and a separate return for 2022 that each sought more than $250,000 in refunds he was not entitled to receive.
Green appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo I. Brisbois of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota following the unsealing of his indictment on Tuesday. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison per count related to filing a false tax return and up to five years per count related to filing false claims. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge after consideration of federal guidelines and statutory factors.
The case is being investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Daniel R. Glenn and Charles A. O’Reilly from the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
Authorities emphasized that “an indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
