A Benton County man will spend some time in jail for tax fraud. Federal officials say 52-year-old Keith Rath of Shellsburg pled guilty to one count of aiding and assisting the preparation and filing of a false and fraudulent tax return.
Rath ran a tax preperation and a sports officiating business, and in a plea agreement, admitted that he filed a false tax return on behalf of a client without the client’s knowledge. He also admitted he arranged to have part of the refund from that return deposited into his own account.
Rath told officials he had filed other false returns between 2008 and 2010. He was sentenced to one year in federal prison and ordered to pay $52,418 in restitution.