CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Internal Revenue Service recently raided four Wells Fidelity tax preparation offices in Charlotte, according to court documents.
Wells Fidelity's headquarters is on North Tryon Street, according to court documents.
A secretary told Eyewitness News reporter Liz Foster Wednesday that the company moved out two weeks ago.
The company has four offices in the Charlotte area, and records said Wells Fidelity defrauded the U.S. government. In addition to the office at 525 N. Tryon St., the company has locations at 4108 Rozzelles Ferry Road, 1828 Oakdale Road and 3631 Statesville Ave.
Court documents outline the details of an investigation by the IRS.
"The total amount of suspected fraudulent tax refunds issued for tax returns prepared by Wells Fidelity for tax years 2011 to the present exceeds $3 million," according to the documents.
The company inflated incomes and clients' number of dependents to maximize tax returns for customers, then charged an extra fee for the additional money that the client would get, IRS officials said.
The IRS also pointed to a customer's Facebook post, claiming that Wells Fidelity helped her get thousands of dollars in a tax refund, even though she didn't work at all last year.
Foster visited all four locations, but the doors were locked and nobody answered.
"They moved in right about tax time, (did) the taxes, supposedly," said Johnny Brown, who owns a thrift store next to the office on Oakdale Road. "But I've never seen a customer."
The owner of the buildings on Statesville Road said Wells Fidelity moved out at the end of April.
Two weeks before that, the IRS raided all the offices, seizing computers, records, cellphones and more.
Wells Fidelity operates primarily in North Carolina and has offices in Georgia and Virginia.
Foster reached out to the IRS but didn't hear back.
"I'm guessing people think this is a scam," a January 2014 Facebook post from Wells Fidelity read. "It is far from that. This is a legit business."
The post ends: "Don't believe me, just watch. I will get mine regardless."
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