Fein resigns from Board of Assessors following tax fraud case
Date: 12/10/2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comLONGMEADOW — Longmeadow Board of Assessors Chair Jonathan Fein has resigned from his position as he awaits his plea date in a tax fraud case against him.
"It is my understanding that he turned in his resignation on Tuesday [Dec. 4] to the Select Board," Principal Assessor Robert Leclair said.
Acting Town Manager Barry Del Castilho confirmed that the resignation had been tendered to his office.
Fein has agreed to plead guilty on Dec. 20 to 29 counts of preparing Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 1040 personal tax return forms with false information in order to garner larger refunds for clients of his company, LF Tax Group Inc., which operates as American Tax or American Tax Service, in order to receive larger tax preparation fees.
Christina DiIorio-Sterling, spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz's office, previously told
Reminder Publications the government would pursue incarceration for Fein, who faces up to five years in prison for each count.
Any jail time would be followed by a maximum of three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
Fein will also be expected to pay restitution in the amount of $138,474 to the IRS and $29,909 to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.
