A Nevada man identified as Michael J. Moore pleaded guilty in federal court to involvement in a second fraudulent tax refund scheme. Court documents and statements made in court described a plan that used a tax preparation business called X Tax Pros, presented as a specialized tax and bookkeeping service mainly for clients from the adult entertainment industry.
Clients were allegedly told that their tax debts could be completely removed using special filing methods. Instead, false information was added to official returns. These entries created fake business losses that did not actually exist. The purpose of these fake losses was to reduce what clients owed to the IRS or generate refunds that were not legally allowed.
In several cases, the false losses were linked to business entities belonging to other clients. Many of these entities were inactive, defunct, or no longer filing returns. Even though they were no longer operating, their details were still used in tax filings to support the false claims.
As a result, the tax system issued refunds based on incorrect information. These refunds were not valid under tax law. Clients received payments they were not entitled to receive, and service fees were collected from those refunds. In some cases, the fees were deducted directly before clients received the remaining amount.
Between August 2025 and October 2025, this scheme caused a tax loss exceeding $250,000 to the United States government.
Repeat Offense After Earlier Guilty Plea
Court records show that Michael J. Moore had already pleaded guilty in a separate but related federal tax fraud case involving a nearly identical scheme. That earlier case resulted in at least $3.5 million in losses to the United States in United States v. Michael J. Moore, Case No. 2:25-cr-00225-JAD-NJK.
Despite the earlier guilty plea, he allegedly continued similar activity while awaiting sentencing in that case. Prosecutors said he launched a second scheme that closely mirrored the earlier fraud in structure and execution. During this period, steps were taken to conceal his identity in an effort to avoid detection while the new activity continued.
The second scheme followed the same pattern of using false deductions, fabricated business losses, and misleading financial entries to influence tax filings and generate improper refunds. Authorities noted that this conduct occurred while legal proceedings in the earlier case were still active, and before final sentencing had taken place.
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Charges, Investigation, and Financial Impact
Michael J. Moore pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns, and aggravated identity theft. Wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison. Aiding and assisting the filing of false returns carries up to three years in prison. Aggravated identity theft includes a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 16, where a federal district court judge will determine the final punishment after reviewing federal sentencing guidelines, statutory requirements, and case details presented in court.
The investigation into the scheme was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Patrick Burns of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Anthony Lopez for the District of Nevada.
Court proceedings also confirm that the fraudulent activity involved repeated misuse of tax filing systems, improper manipulation of business records, and intentional submission of false financial data to obtain refunds that were not lawfully owed.