Tag: Georgia

Justice Department Seeks to Shut Down Georgia Tax Return Preparer

The United States government filed a civil injunction suit seeking to bar Wesley Adam Kroll from owning or operating a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The complaint also seeks an order that Kroll disgorge ill-gotten return preparation fees that he obtained through his alleged misconduct.


The United States government filed a civil injunction suit seeking to bar Wesley Adam Kroll from owning or operating a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The complaint also seeks an order that Kroll disgorge ill-gotten return preparation fees that he obtained through his alleged misconduct.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, alleges that Kroll has operated three tax return preparation stores in Albany and Moultrie, Georgia, under the names United Tax Service, American Tax Service, American Tax, and Tax South. 

The government alleges that Kroll prepared tax returns claiming fabricated businesses and business-related profits or losses, and various false tax deductions and credits, including education, childcare, and earned income tax credits. The complaint estimates the lost tax revenue from federal tax returns prepared by Kroll and his employees exceeds $1.9 million.

According to the complaint, the IRS took multiple steps to correct Kroll’s unlawful behavior, including conducting in-person educational visits with Kroll in 2012, 2014, and 2015; issuing him warning letters in 2013 and 2016; and assessing him with $182,500 in tax return preparer penalties. But, the government alleges, these efforts have failed to curb Kroll’s unlawful behavior.

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“The Justice Department is committed to working with the IRS to bring enforcement actions against unscrupulous return preparers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard Zuckerman. “This civil action is further evidence that the IRS and the Tax Division will use all available tools to hold dishonest return preparers accountable and protect the U.S. Treasury from damage.”

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page.

If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

Justice.gov (February, 2020) Justice Department Seeks to Shut Down Georgia Tax Return Preparer

Child Predators Arrested as a Result of “Operation Broken Arrow” Online Undercover Investigation

As a result of a proactive online undercover investigation coordinated by the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC), the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, and the Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, fourteen (14) people were arrested over a four-day period beginning Thursday, February 6, 2020.


“Operation Broken Arrow” was a four-day proactive effort centered in Valdosta, GA. 

As a result of a proactive online undercover investigation coordinated by the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC), the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, and the Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, fourteen (14) people were arrested over a four-day period beginning Thursday, February 6, 2020. 

Those arrested were charged with O.C.G.A. 16-12-100.2, Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007 and/or O.C.G.A 16-5-46, Trafficking of Persons for Labor or Sexual Servitude.

Additional charges and arrests may be forthcoming.

“Operation Broken Arrow” was a four-day proactive effort centered in Valdosta, GA. 

The operation took several months of planning.  The arrestees, ranging in age from 24 to 57, traveled from areas around South Georgia with the intent to meet a child for sex.  Every individual arrested during the operation believed they were going to a location to meet with a child and engage in prearranged sex acts.

The Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force had previously received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on at least one person who was arrested during Operation Broken Arrow. That same person had been previously arrested on peeping tom charges. 

Two persons were arrested in possession of a firearm and two persons were arrested in possession of illegal narcotics. At least two other arrestees were investigated for sex related crimes in the past. Nineteen (19) mobile devices and several additional electronic devices were seized as evidence during the operation. 

The goal of “Operation Broken Arrow” was to arrest persons who communicate with children on-line and then travel to meet them for the purpose of having sex.  Additionally, the operation targeted those that are willing to exploit children by purchasing sex with a minor. On-line child predators visit chat rooms and websites on the internet, find children, begin conversations with them, introduce sexual content and arrange a meeting with the children for the purpose of having sex.  The children these predators target are both boys and girls. 

Since 2014, the Georgia ICAC Task Force has arrested over 150 people in similar operations. 

Over the course of the operation, investigators had more than 120 exchanges with persons on various social media or internet platforms. During many of these exchanges, the subjects directed conversations towards sex with persons they believed to be minors. Over 40 cases were established that met the threshold for arrest.

Fourteen (14) of those cases were concluded with arrests. In some of these cases, the subject introduced obscene or lude content, often exposing the minor (UC) to pornography or requesting the child take nude or pornographic images for them. About half of the exchanges involved websites used for dating, socializing, or even websites used for classified advertisements. 

Although some websites promote themselves as being for “adults-only” it is not uncommon for law enforcement to work cases in which children access these sites, establish profiles claiming to be older, and then find themselves vulnerable to victimization, harassment, blackmail, or assault.

Several subjects were identified as communicating simultaneously with multiple investigators posing as minors. Such activity confirms what investigators uncover conducting these types of investigations: that many predators specifically seek out minors on such websites to groom them as potential victims for sexual contact.

Along with those agencies who participated in the planning and coordinating of the operation, sixteen (16) additional law enforcement agencies participated in “Operation Broken Arrow” as members of the Georgia ICAC Task Force.

These agencies were:

  1. Alpharetta Police Department
  2. Atlanta Police Department
  3. Floyd County Police Department
  4. Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office
  5. GBI-Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center (GISAC)
  6. Glynn County Police Department
  7. Gwinnett County Police Department
  8. Hall County Sheriff’s Office
  9. Homeland Security Investigations
  10. Johns Creek Police Department
  11. Lilburn Police Department
  12. Marietta Police Department
  13. Polk County Police Department
  14. Savannah Police Department
  15. United States Air Force – Office of Special Investigations
  16. Woodstock Police Department

The proactive on-line investigation was a coordinated effort among the participating law enforcement agencies to combat this activity. Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk stated, “The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office is proud to partner with the GBI and other federal, state, and local area law enforcement agencies in these continuing efforts to identify and apprehend those who prey on our most vulnerable victims. Thanks to this coordinated four-day effort, multiple predators have been removed from our streets and are no longer free to victimize our children.”

GBI Special Agent in Charge, and Commander of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Debbie Garner remarked “The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office is one of our most active member agencies.  We appreciate their daily efforts to combat child exploitation.  This type of cooperation and collaboration is invaluable in the effort to keep our children safe from predators who seek to harm them.  This successful operation was a true partnership between all the agencies involved. We will continue to aggressively work together to protect our children.” 
 
The following were arrested and charged in Lowndes County as part of “Operation Broken Arrow”:
 

  1. Dave Vincent Almon, W/M, 43, retail manager
  2. Billy Stephen Carter, W/M, 57, truck driver
  3. Eric Bernard Copeland, B/M, press operator
  4. Walter Lee Curry, B/M, 33, laborer
  5. Jamian Hogan, B/M, 34, retail associate
  6. John Henry Hursey, W/M, 45, carpenter
  7. Eugene Andega Mainah, B/M, 35, unemployed
  8. Keith Morrison, B/M, 43, truck driver
  9. Wyman Rene Phillips, W/M, 36, electrician
  10. Wilford Sermons, B/M, 28, customer service representative
  11. Josue Trejo, H/M, 31, forklift driver
  12. Bronson Jamari D. Tripp, B/M, 24, retail associate
  13. Keith Walters, W/M, 44, university Dean
  14. Justin Na’eem Warren, B/M, 24, student
     
    The Georgia ICAC Task Force is comprised of 240+ local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, other related criminal justice agencies and prosecutor’s offices.  The mission of the ICAC Task Force, created by the U. S. Department of Justice and managed and operated by the GBI in Georgia, is to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in developing an effective response to cyber enticement and child pornography cases. This support encompasses forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, prevention and community education. The ICAC Program was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the internet, the proliferation of child pornography, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims. By helping state and local law enforcement agencies develop effective and sustainable responses to online child victimization and child pornography, the ICAC program delivers national resources at the local level.  Arrests made by the Georgia ICAC Task Force have been steadily increasing over the last 3 years.  In 2017, The Georgia ICAC Task Force made 350 arrests.  In 2018, The Georgia ICAC Task Force made 307 arrests.  In 2019, the Georgia ICAC Task Force made 474 arrests. The Georgia ICAC Task Force has made over 2,000 arrests since its inception in 2002. 

GBI.Georgia.gov (February, 2020) “Operation Broken Arrow” Targets On-line Child Predators

GBI Arrests Lamar County, Georgia Man for Terroristic Threats and Acts

On Tuesday, January 28, 2020, Michael C. Hudgins, 24, of Barnesville, GA, was arrested by Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Agents for violation of O.C.G.A. 16-11-37, Terroristic Threats and Acts.


On Tuesday, January 28, 2020, Michael C. Hudgins, 24, of Barnesville, GA, was arrested by Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Agents for violation of O.C.G.A. 16-11-37, Terroristic Threats and Acts.

In addition to that charge, Hudgins was also charged with theft by receiving a stolen firearm, seven (7) counts of possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer, trafficking methamphetamine, and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

This arrest stems from a thorough investigation by the GBI Region 6 (Milledgeville) Office along with Lamar County Georgia Sheriff’s Office Investigators.

The Lamar County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) requested the GBI’s assistance in reference to a terroristic threats investigation involving Michael Hudgins, an employee of Continental Tire at the Aldora Mill.  Hudgins made comments to another Continental Tire employee about bringing an AK 47 rifle to work and “shooting up the place”.

Hudgins also told this other employee not to come to work on February 1st because he was going to carry out his assault on that day.

On Tuesday, January 28, 2020, GBI Agents and LCSO Investigators made contact with Hudgins at his residence of 350 Freeman Rd. Barnesville, Ga. 

Prior to making contact with Hudgins, law enforcement discovered that he was on first offender probation from a previous arrest. In Hudgins bedroom, law enforcement discovered seven (7) firearms that Hudgins is not permitted to have due to his probation conditions.

Law enforcement then found over three (3) ounces of suspected methamphetamine, along with a quantity of suspected marijuana, in an outbuilding on the property. Troy Guy Peacock,41, was also arrested at this location due to a probation violation warrant.

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