United States of America v. Odne

Filing 55

AMENDED ORDER: See Order for details. This Order Amends (Doc. # 53 ). Signed by Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington on 12/9/2016. (KAK)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TAMPA DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
v.

Civil No. 8:15-cv-1079-T33EAJ

MILOT ODNE, individually and
d/b/a LBS TAX SERVICES, RAPID
TAX 1, RAPID TAX 1, LLC, and
MILOT ODNE, LLC; and ALEXANDER
BARAZ, individually and d/b/a
LBS TAX SERVICES, RAPID TAX 1,
and ALEXANDER BARAZ, LLC,
Defendants.
______________________________/
JUDGMENT AND ORDER OF PERMANENT INJUNCTION
Before the Court is a Stipulation for Entry of an Order
of Permanent Injunction against

Milot Odne. The stipulation

has been submitted by the United States and Milot Odne. The
Court enters this judgment and order of permanent injunction
in accordance with the stipulation.
The United States has filed a complaint in which it
seeks a permanent injunction under 26 U.S.C. §§ 7402, 7407,
and 7408 against Milot Odne. The United States alleges, in
part,

that

Milot

Odne

has

continually

and

repeatedly

engaged in conduct subject to penalty under 26 U.S.C. §§
6694, 6695, and 6701, and conduct that interferes with the

1

administration of the internal revenue laws.
Milot Odne has waived the entry of findings of fact and
conclusions of law under Rules
Rules

of

Civil

Judgment and

Procedure,

52 and 65 of the Federal

consented

to

the

entry

of

a

Order of Permanent Injunction, and agreed to

be bound by its terms.

No provision in this stipulation or

the fact that Milot Odne is agreeing to it constitutes an
admission by him of any of the allegations set forth by the
United States in the foregoing paragraph or in the United
States’ complaint. This order constitutes a judgment against
Milot Odne, pursuant to Rule 54(b) of Fed. R. Civ. P., there
is no just reason for delay in entering this judgment and
Milot Odne waives the right to appeal from that judgment.
This

judgment

injunction

action,

and
and

order
neither

resolves
precludes

only
the

this

civil

government

from pursuing any other current or future civil or criminal
matters

or

proceedings,

nor

precludes

Milot

Odne

from

contesting his liability or guilt in any other matter

or

proceeding. The Court retains jurisdiction over this matter
for the purpose of implementing

and enforcing the permanent

injunction entered against him and understands that if he
violates

the permanent injunction, he may be subject to

civil and criminal sanctions for contempt of court.
2

Based on the foregoing and the stipulation filed by the
parties, the Court now ORDERS that:
A.

Milot Odne, and all those in active concert or

participation with him, are permanently enjoined from:
(1)

acting as a federal tax return preparer or
requesting, assisting in, or
preparation

or

filing

directing the

of

returns, amended returns,

federal

tax

or other related

documents or forms for any person or entity
other than himself;
(2)

preparing or assisting in preparing federal
tax

returns

should

that

have

he

known

understatement
overstatement

of
of

knows
would

tax

or

reasonably

result

liability

federal

tax

in
or

an
the

refund(s)

as

penalized by 26 U.S.C. § 6694;
(3)

owning,

operating,

managing,

working

in,

investing in, providing capital or loans to,
receiving

fees

or

remuneration

controlling, licensing,
franchising

a

tax

from,

consulting with, or
return

preparation

business;
(4)

training,

instructing,
3

teaching,

and

creating

or

memoranda,

providing

directions,

cheat

sheets,

instructions,

manuals, pertaining to the

or

preparation of

federal tax returns; engaging in any other
activity subject to penalty under 26 U.S.C.
§§ 6694,

6695, 6701, or any other penalty

provision in the Internal Revenue Code (26
U.S.C.);
(5)

maintaining, assigning, holding, using, or
obtaining
Number

a

Preparer

(PTIN)

or

Tax

an

Identification

Electronic

Filing

Identification Number (EFIN); and
(6)

engaging in any conduct that substantially
interferes

the

enforcement

and

with

of

proper
the

administration

internal

revenue

laws.
B.

Milot Odne will immediately and permanently close

all tax return preparation

stores that he owns directly or

through any entity, and doing business under any name;
C.

Milot

Odne

through

any

entity,

selling

any

franchise

agreement, or

is

prohibited,

from

assigning,

agreement,

either

directly

or

transferring,

or

independent

contractor

employment contract related to any tax return
4

preparation business to which he or any entity

under his

control is a party;
D.

Milot Odne is barred from: (1) selling to any

individual

or

entity

a

list

of

customers

or

any

other

information pertaining to customers for whom Milot Odne and
any entity,

business, or name through which Milot Odne or

those acting at his direction have at any time
prepared

a

tax

return;

(2)

assigning,

providing, or giving to any current

since 2011

disseminating,

or former franchisee,

General Sales Manager, District Sales Manager, manager, tax
return

preparer,

employee,

or

independent

contractor

Milot Odne and any entity, business, or name

of

through which

Milot Odne prepares tax returns or owns or franchises a tax
return preparation

business, a list of customers or any

other information pertaining to customers for whom Milot
Odne and any other entity, business, or name through which
Milot Odne or those acting at his

direction have at any

time since 2011 prepared a tax return; and (3) selling to
any

individual

or

entity

any

proprietary

information

pertaining to any entity, business, or name through which
Milot Odne or those acting at his direction have at any time
since

2010

prepared

5

a

tax

return;

E.

Milot Odne shall, within 45 days of the Court’s

order, either:
(1) pay for the publication of a copy of the
order of permanent injunction, stating paragraphs
A-D, for three consecutive days in a newspaper of
general
Odne

circulation

in

every

city

where

Milot

owned or operated a tax return preparation

store since 2011, or
(2) contact by United States mail or, if an email address is known, by e-mail, all persons for
whom Milot Odne, LBS Tax Services stores owned or
managed by Odne, or Rapid Tax 1 prepared federal
tax returns or claims for a refund for tax years
2011 through the
permanent
including

present to inform them of the

injunction
sending

a

entered
copy

of

against
the

him,

order

of

permanent injunction but not enclosing any other
documents

or

enclosures

unless

agreed

to

by

counsel for the United States or approved by the
Court;
F.
order,

Milot Odne shall provide a copy of the Court’s
by

email

or

other

means,

to

all

principals,

officers, managers, franchisees, employees, and independent

contractors of Milot

Odne and any entity, business, or name

through which Milot Odne or those acting at his direction
have at any time since 2011 prepared a tax return within 45
days of the Court’s order, and provide to counsel for the
United

States

within

principals, officers,

60

days

a

list

identifying

the

managers, franchisees, employees, and

independent contractors to whom Milot Odne provided a

copy

of the Court’s order;
G.
Odne

The Court shall retain jurisdiction over Milot

and

over

this

action

to

enforce

the

permanent

injunction entered against him; and
H.

The

United

States

is

entitled

to

conduct

discovery to monitor Milot Odne’s compliance with the terms
of Order of Permanent Injunction entered against him.
Accordingly, it is
ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED:
(1) The Clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of
the

United

States

Defendant
(2) A
against

of

America

and

against

in accordance with the foregoing.

permanent

injunction

is

Defendant

hereby

entered

in accordance with the

foregoing.
(3) Once judgment is entered, the Clerk shall CLOSE
this case.
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DONE and ORDERED in Chambers in Tampa, Florida,
this

th day of December, 2016.

8