Las Vegas man charged in tax scam involving auto body shops

A Las Vegas man was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to defraud the IRS for allegedly falsifying tax returns for several local auto body shops, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Lance Bradford allegedly “conspired with others to prepare tax returns on behalf of several automotive collision centers falsely claiming that the centers and their owners incurred millions in deductible expenses,” the department said in a statement.

According to the indictment, Bradford claimed more than $11 million in deductions from 2013 to 2015. Bradford was previously charged with aiding and assisting in the filing of false individual, corporate and partnership returns on behalf of others, the statement said.

If he is convicted, Bradford faces up to five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and three years for each of the 29 counts of aiding and assisting the filing of false returns, it said.

Contact Alexis Ford at aford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.