John Anthony Castro, a man from Texas who is seeking to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot in 27 states, has been arrested for filing false tax documents.
Castro was indicted last week on 33 counts of aiding the preparation of false tax returns.
Prosecutors claim he ran a virtual tax preparation business that gave customers tax returns beyond what they owed, according to The Hill.
“Castro would promise a significantly higher refund than taxpayers could receive from other preparers and on many occasions, offered to split the additional refund with taxpayers,” court documents read. “In order to achieve these larger refunds, Castro generated false deductions, that were not based in fact, and which were submitted without the taxpayer’s knowledge.”
The fraudulent activities were discovered after an undercover police officer was told by one tax preparer that he would receive a $373 tax return, while Castro claimed he would receive $6,007.
The tax forms Castro filed contained almost $30,000 in fraudulently claimed deductions.
Castro has denied any wrongdoing.
“I don’t care if they offered me one day probation and a slap on the wrist in exchange for a guilty plea,” he told The Hill. “This is going to trial. I am going to convince all 12 jurors that I am 100 percent innocent and that this is political retaliation.”
“Mr. Castro’s alleged crimes are stunning in their brazenness,” U.S. Attorney Simonton said in a press release. “The Department of Justice will continue to hold people accountable who steal from the federal government’s—and the American public’s—pockets.”
If convicted on all 33 counts, Castro faces up to 99 years in federal prison.
