Roni Deutch, television's "Tax Lady," was sued Monday for perpetrating a"heartless scheme" that swindled thousands of people across the nation into paying huge fees to stop the IRS from collecting back taxes. "Tax Lady Roni Deutch…promises to significantly reduce [client's] IRS tax debts, but instead preys on their vulnerability, taking large up-front payments but providing little or no help in lowering their tax bills," said California Attorney General Jerry Brown when announcing the suit. Brown is attempting to permanently stop Deutch's allegedly misleading advertisements and force her to pay $34 million in restitution to thousands of former clients. Deutch failed to return phone calls prior to press time. Brown says that Deutch "manufactures credibility" by spending $3 million annually on late-night television ads and by offering tax advice on credible news shows, such as NBC's Today Show, CNN, CNBC and FoxNews. She also claims, in an advertisement titled "It's Your Turn," to have "saved" numerous clients from having to pay thousands to the IRS. But the Attorney General says that all three clients in this advertisement still owe the IRS the full amount of their tax bills, plus interest and penalties. In reality Deutch put these clients on "currently not collectible" status with the IRS. That's what Brown's office refers to as "tax collection purgatory" because the government stops trying to collect but continues to accrue fines and interest. Hundreds of Deutch's clients have complained to the attorney general's office and other agencies, Brown said in a news release. Web sites proclaiming that Deutch's services are a scam are almost as ubiquitous as her advertisements, showing up at the Complaints Board, PissedConsumer and Rip-Off Report. Jennifer Geronimo, a San Francisco small business owner, counts herself among Deutch's victims. In an interview Monday, Geronimo said she paid Deutch's California law firm just shy of $2,000 to settle her $30,000 tax debt last July. By October, she was getting nasty notices from the IRS, saying that they were about to levy her assets. Geronimo said she called the IRS herself and was able to get on a payment plan, with no help from Deutch. After complaining to the Better Business Bureau, Geronimo got a partial refund from Deutch's office, but she says she's still out the better part of $1,000 and claims she got nothing in return. Brown, who is running for Governor of California, issued a press advisory earlier this year warning consumers to beware tax relief scams that charge up-front fees. If you think you've been victimized by Deutch or other tax relief services, you can contact Brown's office at 1-80*-952-**** or file a complaint online.
Juceam and Forsythe, along with Gregory Flahive, owner of Sacramento tax law firm Prestige Law Corp., were named as co-defendants in the state's expanding case against Deutch in a July 8 filing. The complaint accused Deutch of violating court orders by fraudulently transferring several thousand sales leads to the trio, diverting money the state said should have gone to pay back clients.
The case is separate from the civil lawsuit filed by the state attorney general's office last August alleging that Deutch swindled clients, doing little or no work on their behalf.
That suit demanded that she return $34 million to customers and cease advertising.
Deutch, in April, faced contempt-of-court allegations after she was accused of shredding millions of pages of documents related to the lawsuit in violation of court orders. She pleaded not guilty to the allegations in Sacramento Superior Court and faces an October hearing in the matter.
State attorneys in the sales leads case are now focusing on the Juceam Group, asking Judge Brown to extend a temporary estraining order freezing the firm's assets and place it under the control of a receiver, alleging that the firm profited from the leads. sacbee
Whats taking so long to put Roni Deutch and her co-conspirators in jail?
No refunds- Per the Calf AG:
Deutch also ignored a preliminary injunction that requires her to return all unearned fees to clients within 60 days" and admitted that she has over $400,000 in refund requests that are older than 60 days, Harris said.
Even more disturbing, said Harris' filing, is that Deutch allegedly gave at least $12,000 to her brother, Scott Juceam, which he used to launch a tax debt resolution company, called the Juceam Group, which he allegedly runs from one of the Roni Deutch Tax Center locations.
Harris asked the court to fine Deutch $1,000 and imprison her for five days for "each and every separate contempt" -- $1,000 and five days in jail for each of the millions of pages of documents destroyed and each refund not issued, in other words.
The Deuctch family is now operating at the 'Juceam Group'. Call them and ask for one of Roni Deutchs brothers.