The two are reported to have operated under a number of company names in the Memphis, Tenn., area, including SuperFast Taxes, MG Services, and most recently, Taxes-R-Us. Grant and Madyun were found to have prepared 700 returns in 2009 and 570 for 2010. According to the complaint, they changed amounts on the returns, including claimed the EITC, to boost refunds, without informing clients of their actions.

The two are also accused of requiring preparers to place the bank routing number and addresses of the tax return business on client tax returns so that the refunds ended up in those accounts. The IRS has assessed a penalty of $281,000 against MG Services and SuperFast Taxes because preparers are prohibited from negotiating clients' refund checks

Grant and Madyun also claimed the American Opportunity Credit, which can exceed the amount of tax paid, allegedly often not informing clients of their actions and then in a least one case, told a client who inquired about the higher-than-anticipated refund that he had qualified for a credit. They also boosted the claimed EITCs by creating phony business income in order to claim higher credits.

The Department of Justice estimated the tax loss in this case ranges from $2 million to as much as $5 million. A January audit of 273 returns found the average refund was inflated by $3,830.