Arizona Immigrant Advocate Elias Bermudez Charged With Scamming Migrants, IRS

Immigrant advocate Elias Bermudez has been a controversial figure in Arizona and other states for a long time. He's been accused of offering legal services he wasn't qualified to provide.

Bermudez, who lives in Tucson, is now facing a new legal problem: He's been charged with scamming the IRS and immigrants by preparing fraudulent tax documents that enabled people to get tax credits they didn't deserve.

From 2010 to 2012, Bermudez prepared at least 27 tax forms for immigrants that claimed child tax credits his clients didn't deserve, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment.

"Specifically, Bermudez added a false number of dependents to his clients' returns in order to maximize refundable credits under the Additional Child Tax Credit," the October 3 indictment says.

Read more: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona-immigrant-advocate-elias-bermudez-charged-with-tax-fraud-9757354