PROVIDENCE, RI — A federal grand jury indicted Warwick-based tax preparer Ray Petrarca, owner of Stratus Financial Group at 3220 Post Road, on Tuesday, on charges of preparing and filing fraudulent tax returns in the name of his clients.
According to the indictment, reported on the U.S. District Attorney’s Massachusetts office website, Petrarca allegedly prepared and filed falsified federal tax returns in his clients’ names by adding false and inflated deductions for home mortgage interest and charitable donations, as well as false and inflated credits for purported home energy improvements. Petrarca filed the returns during a period lasting at least from 2011 through 2015.
According to statute, if proven guilty Petrarca faces a sentence of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
Disclosure: Petrarca prepared and filed business tax returns for Warwick Post LLCÂ Â for the 2014 tax year. No law enforcement official has contacted Warwick Post or Publisher Rob Borkowski regarding this case.Â
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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