IRS Publishes List of Practitioners Subject to Disciplinary Action

The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) announces recent disciplinary sanctions involving attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled actuaries, enrolled retirement plan agents, and appraisers. These individuals are subject to the regulations governing practice before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which are set out in Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 10, and which are published in pamphlet form as Treasury Department Circular No. 230. The regulations prescribe the duties and restrictions relating to such practice and prescribe the disciplinary sanctions for violating the regulations.

The disciplinary sanctions to be imposed for violation of the regulations are:

Disbarred from practice before the IRS -- An individual who is disbarred is not eligible to represent taxpayers before the IRS.

Suspended from practice before the IRS -- An individual who is suspended is not eligible to represent taxpayers before the IRS during the term of the suspension.

Censured in practice before the IRS -- Censure is a public reprimand. Unlike disbarment or suspension, censure does not affect an individual's eligibility to represent taxpayers before the IRS, but OPR may subject the individual's future representations to conditions designed to promote high standards of conduct.

Monetary penalty -- A monetary penalty may be imposed on an individual who engages in conduct subject to sanction or on an employer, firm, or entity if the individual was acting on its behalf and if it knew, or reasonably should have known, of the individual's conduct.

Disqualification of appraiser -- An appraiser who is disqualified is barred from presenting evidence or testimony in any administrative proceeding before the Department of the Treasury or the IRS.

Under the regulations, attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled actuaries, and enrolled retirement plan agents may not assist, or accept assistance from, individuals who are suspended or disbarred with respect to matters constituting practice (i.e., representation) before the IRS, and they may not aid or abet suspended or disbarred individuals to practice before the IRS.

Disciplinary sanctions are described in these terms:

Disbarred by decision after hearing, Suspended by decision after hearing, Censured by decision after hearing, Monetary penalty imposed after hearing, and Disqualified after hearing -- An administrative law judge (ALJ) conducted an evidentiary hearing upon OPR's complaint alleging violation of the regulations and issued a decision imposing one of these sanctions. After 30 days from the issuance of the decision, in the absence of an appeal, the ALJ's decision became the final agency decision.

Disbarred by default decision, Suspended by default decision, Censured by default decision, Monetary penalty imposed by default decision, and Disqualified by default decision -- An ALJ, after finding that no answer to OPR's complaint had been filed, granted OPR's motion for a default judgment and issued a decision imposing one of these sanctions.

Disbarment by decision on appeal, Suspended by decision on appeal, Censured by decision on appeal, Monetary penalty imposed by decision on appeal, and Disqualified by decision on appeal -- The decision of the ALJ was appealed to the agency appeal authority, acting as the delegate of the Secretary of the Treasury, and the appeal authority issued a decision imposing one of these sanctions.

Disbarred by consent, Suspended by consent, Censured by consent, Monetary penalty imposed by consent, and

Disqualified by consent -- In lieu of a disciplinary proceeding being instituted or continued, an individual offered a consent to one of these sanctions and OPR accepted the offer. Typically, an offer of consent will provide for: suspension for an indefinite term; conditions that the individual must observe during the suspension; and the individual's opportunity, after a stated number of months, to file with OPR a petition for reinstatement affirming compliance with the terms of the consent and affirming current eligibility to practice (i.e., an active professional license or active enrollment status). An enrolled agent or an enrolled retirement plan agent may also offer to resign in order to avoid a disciplinary proceeding.

Suspended by decision in expedited proceeding, Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding, Suspended by consent in expedited proceeding -- OPR instituted an expedited proceeding for suspension (based on certain limited grounds, including loss of a professional license and criminal convictions).

OPR has authority to disclose the grounds for disciplinary sanctions in these situations: (1) an ALJ or the Secretary's delegate on appeal has issued a decision on or after September 26, 2007, which was the effective date of amendments to the regulations that permit making such decisions publicly available; (2) the individual has settled a disciplinary case by signing OPR's "consent to sanction" form, which requires consenting individuals to admit to one or more violations of the regulations and to consent to the disclosure of the individual's own return information related to the admitted violations (for example, failure to file Federal income tax returns); or (3) OPR has issued a decision in an expedited proceeding for suspension.

Announcements of disciplinary sanctions appear in the Internal Revenue Bulletin at the earliest practicable date. The sanctions announced below are alphabetized first by the names of states and second by the last names of individuals. Unless otherwise indicated, section numbers (e.g., § 10.51) refer to the regulations.

_________________________

City & State: Phoenix, Arizona

Name: Everett, James J.

Professional Designation: Attorney

Disciplinary Sanction: Disbarred by ALJ for violation of § 10.51 (conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 157 (bankruptcy fraud); § 152 (3) (false declaration); § 1956 (money laundering/concealment))

Effective Date(s): August 21, 2010

_________________________

City & State: Proctor, Arkansas

Name: Donaldson, Bryan D.

Professional Designation: Attorney

Disciplinary Sanction: 48 month suspension by ALJ for violation of § 10.51 (failed to file Federal individual income tax returns for tax years 2003 and 2004; failed to timely file Federal individual income tax returns for tax years 2001 and 2002; failed to timely pay tax liabilities for tax years 2001 and 2002)

Effective Date(s): From August 23, 2009 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Carlsbad, California

Name: Anson, Ronald I.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 371, conspiracy)

Effective Date(s): From November 19, 2010 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: La Mesa, California

Name: Finch, Mark D.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Disbarred by ALJ for violation of § 10.51 (giving false or misleading information to the Department of the Treasury; failure to timely file Federal individual income tax returns for tax years 2006 and 2007)

Effective Date(s): May 2, 2010

_________________________

City & State: Poway. California

Name: Reed, Michael J.

Professional Designation: Attorney

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (suspension of attorney license)

Effective Date(s): From November 19, 2010 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Denver, Colorado

Name: Levine, Alan L.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Public censure for admitted violation of § 10.51 (failed to file Federal individual income tax returns for tax years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005)

Effective Date(s): August 11, 2009

_________________________

City & State: Panama City, Florida

Name: Weeks, Gregory K.

Professional Designation: Attorney

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (conviction under 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1), filing false Federal income tax returns)

Effective Date(s): From June 18, 2012, until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Dawson, Georgia

Name: Craft, C. Wesley

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended, on appeal, by Appellate Authority for violation of § 10.51 (failed to timely file Federal income tax returns, and timely pay Federal tax liabilities for tax years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007)

Effective Date(s): From October 12, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Tifton, Georgia

Name: Walker-Lanier, Betty

Professional Designation: Attorney

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (suspension of attorney license)

Effective Date(s): From March 25, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Chicago, Illinois

Name: Horwich, Arnold S.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Public censure for admitted violation of § 10.22 (diligence as to accuracy)

Effective Date(s): June 17, 2011

_________________________

City & State: Prairie Village, Kansas

Name: Barr, James E.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: 40 month suspension imposed by Appellate Authority (failure to timely file a Federal income tax return for tax years 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004; and failure to file a Federal income tax return for tax years 2005 and 2006)

Effective Date(s): From July 16, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Bethesda, Maryland

Name: Fox, David E.

Professional Designation: Attorney

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (attorney disbarment)

Effective Date(s): June 7, 2011

_________________________

City & State: Scituate, Massachusetts

Name: Sullivan, Brian B.

Professional Designation: Attorney

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (suspension of attorney license)

Effective Date(s): From March 25, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Name: Lee, Lily Y.

Professional Designation: Enrolled Agent

Disciplinary Sanction: 36 month suspension by Appellate Authority (failure to timely file a Federal income tax return for tax years 2004 and 2005; and failure to file a Federal income tax return for tax years 2006 and 2007)

Effective Date(s): From June 13, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Plymouth, Minnesota

Name: Volstad, Paul S.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended for breach Enrolled Agent of Offer of Consent to Public Censure, which required timely filing of all required tax returns

Effective Date(s): From August 10, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Cassville, Missouri

Name: Divers, Robert D.

Professional Designation: Enrolled Agent

Disciplinary Sanction: Public censure for admitted violation of § 10.22 (diligence as to accuracy)

Effective Date(s): August 3, 2009

_________________________

City & State: Las Vegas, Nevada

Name: Moore, Michael J.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (revocation of CPA license)

Effective Date(s): June 9, 2011

_________________________

City & State: Charlotte, North Carolina

Name: Ross, Walter H.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by ALJ for violation of § 10.51 (suspension of CPA license)

Effective Date(s): From July 7, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Columbiana, Ohio

Name: Kaufman, Gregory B.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (revocation of CPA license)

Effective Date(s): From November 14, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Columbus, Ohio

Name: Smith, Patrick E.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (revocation of CPA license)

Effective Date(s): From July 6, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Grants Pass, Oregon

Name: Cronin, Valerie

Professional Designation: Enrolled Agent

Disciplinary Sanction: Disbarred by ALJ for violation of § 10.51 (failure to timely file Federal individual income tax returns for tax years 2001 and 2002, and failure to file individual income tax returns for years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007)

Effective Date(s): From September 16, 2010 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Name: Maslo, William R.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Consent suspension for admitted violation of § 10.51 (failure to timely file and pay Federal income and employment taxes)

Effective Date(s): From April 16, 2009 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Knoxville, Tennessee

Name: Gee Jr., Edgar H.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Disbarment by ALJ upheld on appeal for violation of § 10.51 (failure to pay Federal income taxes for tax years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005)

Effective Date(s): Indefinite from August 8, 2011, but not less than 5 years

_________________________

City & State: Memphis, Tennessee

Name: Siegfried, Russell A.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: 48 month consent suspension for admitted violation of § 10.51 (failure to file a Federal income tax return for tax years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and failure to file Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, beginning December 2002 to December 2006)

Effective Date(s): From April 23, 2009 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Denton, Texas

Name: Graves, John P.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Consent suspension for admitted violation of § 10.51 (failure to timely file and pay taxes)

Effective Date(s): From April 28, 2009 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Norfolk, Virginia

Name: Coston, Dwayne H.

Professional Designation: CPA

Disciplinary Sanction: Disbarment by ALJ upheld on appeal for violation of § 10.51 (failure to timely file a Federal income tax return for tax year 2005; and failure to file a Federal income tax return for tax years 2007, 2008 and 2009)

Effective Date(s): Indefinite from October 14, 2011, but not less than 5 years

_________________________

City & State: Beaver, West Virginia

Name: Reusing Jr., Matthew J.

Professional Designation: Attorney

Disciplinary Sanction: Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under § 10.82 (conviction under 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2), assisting in false tax returns and conviction under 26 U.S.C. § 7203, failure to file tax returns)

Effective Date(s): From June 9, 2011 until reinstated by Director, OPR

_________________________

City & State: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Name: Purnell, Jeffrey W.

Professional Designation: Attorney

Disciplinary Sanction: Disbarred by ALJ for violation of § 10.51 (failure to timely file individual Federal income tax returns for tax years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008)

Effective Date(s): Indefinite from October 4, 2010, but not less than 5 years