A Georgia man was sentenced on December 19 to two years in prison for evading his personal federal income taxes.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 1999 to 2021, Samir Patel, of Statesboro, was a tax return preparer at a national return preparation business. In 2015, Patel purchased a franchise of the business in Claxton, Georgia. As the owner, he hired, trained and supervised tax preparers, while continuing to prepare returns for customers.

Patel nevertheless evaded his own income taxes by, among other things, filing false returns for 2015 through 2017 that omitted over $1.28 million in income – including almost $1.18 million from his business, S&W Amusements, a company that placed coin-operated amusement machines in convenience stores and gas stations. In total, Patel caused a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $550,000.