Minnesota Man Indicted for Filing False Tax Returns

MINNEAPOLIS - An indictment was unsealed on Tuesday charging a Minnesota man with filing false tax returns and filing false claims for refunds collectively seeking more than $500,000 he was not entitled to receive.

According to the indictment, Philip Nelson Green, of Crookston, Minnesota, filed false individual income tax returns with the IRS for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021. Each of these tax returns reported one or more false items such as wage information, tax withholdings, and child and dependent care expenses. The indictment also alleges that Green filed a false second amended 2021 income tax return and a false 2022 income tax return, both of which sought more than $250,000 in tax refunds he was not entitled to receive.

Green made his initial court appearance Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo I. Brisbois of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. If convicted, Green faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count of filing a false tax return and five years in prison for each count of filing false claims. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen for the District of Minnesota made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Daniel R. Glenn and Charles A. O'Reilly of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, Tax Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.