August 2nd, 2019 by WCBC Radio
BALTIMORE, MD (August 1, 2019) – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh and Comptroller Peter Franchot announced that Oluwaseyi Akapo, 51, of Beltsville, pleaded guilty on July 30, 2019 in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court to two counts of filing a false income tax return.
For several years, Akapo, who was not a registered tax preparer in Maryland, prepared and filed state income tax returns, for a fee, on behalf of numerous Maryland residents. Akapo was employed part-time at TaxPoint Solutions Accountants in Upper Marlboro. Many of the Maryland tax returns Akapo filed on behalf of his clients included false information, which reduced their Maryland tax liabilities and improperly boosted their state tax refunds by approximately $15,000.
Judge Michael Wachs sentenced Akapo to five years, all suspended, with three years of supervised probation. Special conditions of his probation include 50 hours of community service and restitution of $15,000 to the Comptroller of Maryland. He is also prohibited from acting as a tax preparer. Akapo paid the restitution in full at the hearing.
“Mr. Akapo, who was not licensed to prepare tax returns, knowingly entered false information on his clients’ returns with the purpose of fraudulently increasing their refunds,” said Attorney General Frosh.
“Due to the outstanding investigative work of our Field Enforcement Division and the legal team at the Attorney General’s Office, a criminal was held accountable and the money that he attempted to steal from honest taxpayers was recovered,” said Comptroller Franchot. “This is yet another example of the great teamwork between our agencies and a signal that tax cheats will pay the price if they try to defraud the State.”
The case was investigated by Comptroller of Maryland’s Field Enforcement Division and prosecuted by the Criminal Investigations Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.
