Accounting
Fraud guilty plea from accountant over $1.4M mortgage loan
In a case involving phony documents and unpaid taxes, a prominent Washington, D.C.-based accountant pleaded guilty last week for making false statements on a mortgage application after failing to file IRS returns.
A certified public accountant with expertise on tax compliance and due diligence matters, Timothy Trifilo has held partner or managing director positions at several firms for over four decades. He also taught courses in taxation and real estate as an adjunct professor, the original Department of Justice indictment said. Trifilo was hired as a managing director with consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal earlier this year.
Investigators later discovered that, in reality, Trifilo had neither filed returns nor paid taxes for any year beginning in 2012 despite income over the subsequent decade totaling more than $7.7 million. His annual earnings ranged between $636,051 and $948,252 during that time, amounts that required him to file individual tax returns each year.
On documentation delivered to the lender in support of the mortgage application, a former colleague of Trifilo was identified as responsible for preparing, reviewing and signing the falsified returns purportedly
“This individual did not prepare the returns, has never prepared tax returns for Trifilo and did not authorize Trifilo to use his name on the returns and other documents that Trifilo submitted,” a DOJ press release said.
A grand jury originally indicted Trifilo in September on seven counts, including bank fraud and failure to file tax returns, as well as aggravated identity theft. His actions led to a tax loss for the IRS of $2.1 million.
He faces a maximum sentence of three decades in prison for defrauding the lender, as well as one year for failure to file tax returns. Sentencing is scheduled for May 19.
In addition to potential prison time, Trifilo may be required to forfeit the original loan amount and property acquired through bank fraud, the original indictment stated. He also faces a period of supervised release, monetary penalties and restitution.
Attorneys from the DOJ’s tax division prosecuted the case, with evidence based on findings from the IRS criminal investigation unit.
Submission of phony forms and documents have played a
Aces’ report
H&R Block has given the world just what it wants to see this holiday season:
Santa has a lot of itemizations to consider. Eight tiny reindeer depend on him for food and shelter, for instance, but are they dependents? How much can you give to one person before reporting it? Does Santa keep good mileage records for his 41.5 million miles? Santa isn’t an employee, so compensation (even in cookie form) over the threshold may create a 1099-NEC.
Old St. Nick, who files MFJ with Mrs. Claus, did all right on 1040 Line 34, but some of his numbers do bear examination: 6.3 million cookies and 2 million gallons of milk means a third of a gallon of milk per cookie. Will the deduction of coal, magic dust and sleighbells stand up to audit? At least Santa has plenty of time on his hands between January and April to find a good preparer.
“Even the jolly man in red takes time to report taxes,” reads the announcement from the tax prep giant. “He’s probably the world’s most famous small-business owner, running a gift-giving workshop and distribution network across the globe … Santa is giving us the first ever peek at his tax return and showing us how he used H&R Block Online and AI Tax Assist to get his maximum refund.”
The SECURE 2.0 Act contained several changes to traditional and Roth individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans that are being phased in over the coming years, with several notable changes coming in 2025. The Illinois CPA Society highlighted five changes coming to IRAs and 401(k)s in 2025:
The Internal Revenue Service plans to send automatic payments later this month to eligible taxpayers who did not claim the
The payments, totaling some $2.4 billion, will vary, but the maximum is $1,400 per individual.
The mailing follows an IRS review of data showing many eligible taxpayers who filed a return did not claim the Recovery Rebate Credit, a refundable credit for individuals who did not receive EIPs.
“Looking at our internal data, we realized that 1 million taxpayers overlooked claiming this complex credit when they were actually eligible,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, in a statement.
Qualified taxpayers are those who filed a 2021 tax return but left the data field for the Recovery Rebate Credit blank or filled it out as $0 when the taxpayer was actually eligible for the credit.
Taxpayers who haven’t filed 2021 tax returns might also be eligible as well, but they face an April 15, 2025, deadline to file. Eligible taxpayers who did not file must do so to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit even if their income was minimal or nonexistent.
(For questions regarding eligibility and how the payment was calculated, see
These payments will go out automatically in December and should arrive by late January. The payments will be automatically direct deposited or sent by paper check; eligible taxpayers will also receive a separate letter notifying them of the payment.
The payment will be sent to the bank account listed on the taxpayer’s 2023 tax return or to their address of record. If the taxpayer has closed their bank account since filing their 2023 tax return, they do not need to take any action. The bank will return the payment to the IRS and the refund will be reissued to the address of record.
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