The Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that 69-year-old Campbellsport man Robert F. Spoerl was charged in a 28-count indictment.

The indictment charges Spoerl, who operated a tax return preparation business in Kewaskum, under the name J&R Tax Service, with 10 counts of assisting in the filing of false federal income tax returns, 16 counts of theft of money from the United States by filing false claims for tax refunds, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Spoerl is alleged to have used clients’ personal information to file false tax returns with the IRS. To conceal his fraud, Spoerl provided his clients, who were unaware of Spoerl’s fraud, with an accurate copy of their tax return, which Spoerl did not file. The tax returns Spoerl did file fraudulently inflated the tax refunds claimed by the taxpayers by adding false claims for tax credits, deductions, and dependents. Spoerl then diverted the fraudulent portion of the refund to himself and paid the legitimate portion of the refund to his clients.

The indictment alleges that during the years 2011- 2015, Spoerl filed more than 100 false tax returns seeking more than $150,000 in federal tax returns.

If convicted on all counts, Spoerl faces a minimum of two years in prison, up to three years in prison on each of the false tax return charges, and up to ten years in prison on each of the theft of government property charges, plus a fine of up to $250,000. Spoerl is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Milwaukee on March 15.