A Florida man named Diandre Mentor, from Miami, has pleaded guilty to helping run a long-term plan to cheat the U.S. government out of millions of dollars. His guilty plea was entered last week before Magistrate Judge David A. Baker in the Middle District of Florida. He admitted to conspiring to defraud the United States by submitting false tax returns on behalf of clients.
This all started between January 2017 and 2019, when Mentor worked for a tax preparation company called Neighborhood Advance Tax (NAT). The business operated around 12 offices across Florida. But instead of helping people file honest tax returns, Mentor and his co-workers were lying on them. They made up fake deductions to make it look like clients should get much bigger refunds than they really earned.
These deductions were completely made up—like fake business expenses or donations that never happened. By doing this, Mentor and the others were able to trick the IRS into sending out more money than it should have. Over time, this added up to millions of dollars.
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To make things worse, Mentor and his team didn’t stop with just doing it themselves. They held training sessions where they taught other employees at NAT how to prepare fraudulent tax returns. This allowed the dishonest methods to spread across many employees and clients throughout the company.
A New Business, Same Crimes
In 2020, after their time at NAT, Mentor and his co-conspirators opened a new business called Smart Tax & Finance. This company also grew fast and opened 12 franchise locations throughout South and Central Florida.
But even though it had a different name, the business operated in the same illegal way. Mentor and the others continued to fabricate tax deductions and lie on clients’ tax forms. They again made sure that the refunds looked much bigger than they were supposed to be. This meant the IRS was once more sending out refunds based on false information.
As they did before, Mentor and his group trained franchise owners and employees at Smart Tax & Finance on how to prepare these false returns. The fraud continued to grow, reaching more people and more locations.
All of these lies added up to a large amount of money lost by the government. According to the IRS, the total loss caused by Mentor’s actions was $3,090,077. This money was taken directly from the U.S. Treasury, which funds public services like schools, roads, and emergency services.
Guilty Pleas and Sentencing Ahead
Several others involved in the scheme have already pleaded guilty. These include:
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- Abryle Y De La Cruz, who admitted to conspiracy to defraud the United States.
- Emmanual Almonor, who also pleaded guilty to the same charge.
- Adon Hemley, who pleaded guilty to both conspiracy and helping file false returns.
- Isaiah Hayes, who admitted to helping file false tax returns.
Two remaining individuals, Franklin Carter Jr. and Jonathan Carrillo, have not yet pleaded guilty. They are scheduled to go on trial on June 2.
Mentor’s guilty plea must still be approved by a U.S. district court judge. When sentenced, he faces up to five years in prison. He may also have to repay the money lost, pay additional financial penalties, and serve supervised release after prison. The final sentence will be decided based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, which handles criminal tax cases. It is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Michael L. Jones of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Testerman for the Middle District of Florida. The announcement was made by Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly and U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe.
This case is one of the more serious examples of organized tax fraud in recent years, showing how a group of individuals worked together to cheat the system and take money meant for the public.
