Friday March 29th, 2024 2:30AM

Gainesville tax prep service under investigation for fraud

By B.J. Williams, Brian Stewart
GAINESVILLE - Tax Day has come and gone, but Gainesville Police say you might need to double-check your return if you used a tax preparer on Shallowford Road.
 
Freedom Tax Service is under investigation after multiple people complained to the police, saying they were defrauded on their returns.
 
Gainesville Police Cpl. Kevin Holbrook said Friday afternoon that the first complaints were made two weeks ago. He said no arrests have been made at this point and the investigation may take a long time.
 
"We have to look through all of the paper records as well as electronic records to see exactly, you know, how many victims we may possibly have," said Holbrook.
 
Holbrook did not specify what type of fraud is alleged to have happened, saying only that it appears right now that the fraud had something to do with the tax refunds some customers were supposed to receive.
 
Holbrook says investigators believe there could be more victims who don't realized they were defrauded, so he's urging anyone who had dealing with Freedom Tax Service to take a close look at their paperwork.
 
"We hope that there are no more victims out there; however, if anyone thinks they were the victim of this type of fraud [we hope] that they do contact the Gainesville Police Department," said Holbrook.
 
Holbrook said the Department of Revenue is among several state and local agencies taking part in the investigation.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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