BROOKLYN, N.Y. – August 28, 2026 (STL.News) Edris Cust, a Brooklyn tax return preparer who operated Cust Tax Service, pleaded guilty Friday to preparing false federal income tax returns for clients in a scheme that caused more than $1.4 million in tax losses to the Internal Revenue Service, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Cust pleaded guilty to one count of willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false tax return. She faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in federal prison. Sentencing will take place at a later date, and a federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other applicable statutory factors.
The guilty plea puts Edris Cust at the center of a federal tax enforcement case involving returns prepared for multiple clients over about five years.
Edris Cust Operated Cust Tax Service
According to court documents and statements made in court cited by the Justice Department, Cust operated Cust Tax Service, a tax preparation business in Brooklyn, New York.
Federal prosecutors said that from approximately 2019 through 2023, Cust prepared false and fraudulent individual income tax returns for multiple clients.
The Justice Department identified several types of false information allegedly incorporated into the returns.
They included false elections of head-of-household filing status, purported sales of capital assets that generated losses, false rental receipts, and inflated rental expenses.
Those entries mattered because they affected the federal income tax the clients reported owing or the refunds they claimed.
According to the Justice Department, the false information caused Cust’s clients to submit returns to the IRS seeking refunds they were not entitled to or reporting lower tax liabilities than they should have paid.
Federal authorities calculated the resulting tax loss at more than $1.4 million.
The Justice Department did not state in its August 28 announcement how many individual client returns were involved, how many taxpayers received improper refunds, or the exact amount attributed to each category of false information.
Edris Cust – Cust Tax Service Promoted Tax and IRS Services
Cust Tax Service’s website provides additional context about the business Edris Cust operated.
The website advertises tax preparation services in Brooklyn, Hempstead and Queens and describes services for individuals and businesses. Its advertised offerings include personal and commercial tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll services, tax planning, assistance with back taxes, and representation involving IRS audits.
The company’s website also promotes electronic filing and services intended to help taxpayers manage their federal and state income tax obligations.
That public-facing description contrasts sharply with the conduct federal prosecutors outlined in Cust’s guilty plea.
The Justice Department’s case does not suggest that every return prepared by Cust Tax Service was fraudulent, and the department’s announcement refers specifically to false and fraudulent individual returns prepared for multiple clients during approximately 2019 to 2023.
The distinction matters because the federal case concerns conduct established through court proceedings, not every service or customer associated with the business.
Edris Cust – False Tax Returns Can Affect More Than the Preparer
Cases involving fraudulent return preparers can create significant problems not only for the preparer but also for taxpayers whose returns contain inaccurate information.
Taxpayers are generally responsible for the accuracy of the returns filed in their names, even when they use a paid professional to prepare them. That makes choosing a tax preparer particularly important.
In Cust’s case, prosecutors said the false items caused clients to seek refunds they were not entitled to or to pay less federal income tax than they should have.
The Justice Department release does not say whether any of Cust’s clients have been charged with crimes, nor does it establish that the clients necessarily knew that false information was being placed on their returns.
That distinction should not be overlooked. Cust’s guilty plea establishes her criminal responsibility for the offense to which she pleaded guilty; it does not by itself establish criminal wrongdoing by individual customers.
Edris Cust – Edris Cust Faces Up to Three Years in Prison
Cust pleaded guilty to willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false tax return, according to the Justice Department.
The offense carries a maximum statutory penalty of three years in prison.
A maximum penalty does not mean Cust will necessarily receive a three-year prison sentence. Federal judges determine sentences individually after considering the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors established under federal law.
The Justice Department did not announce a sentencing date in its Friday release.
The guilty plea nevertheless represents a major development because the proceeding has moved beyond allegations to an admission of guilt.
Edris Cust – IRS Criminal Investigation Handling the Case
IRS Criminal Investigation, commonly known as IRS-CI, is investigating the case.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and Henry Chavis, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s New York office, announced the guilty plea.
Trial Attorneys Richard J. Kelley and Joseph D.G. Castro of the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
The Justice Department classified the matter as part of its tax enforcement work.
The prosecution also comes amid a broader federal effort targeting fraud. The DOJ said its National Fraud Enforcement Division was created on April 7 and focuses on investigating and prosecuting fraud against the American people.
Edris Cust – Why Return Preparer Fraud Matters
Tax return preparers occupy a position of significant trust.
Individuals and businesses routinely provide preparers with Social Security numbers, income records, investment information, business expenses, banking information and other sensitive financial records. Clients also frequently rely on the preparer’s understanding of deductions, credits and filing requirements.
That relationship can become particularly problematic when false deductions, losses, filing statuses or expenses are inserted into returns to generate larger refunds or reduce reported tax liabilities.
In the Cust case, prosecutors specifically identified several methods they said were used on fraudulent returns, including false head-of-household elections and inflated rental expenses.
A fraudulent entry can alter taxable income, deductions, filing status or other calculations and ultimately affect how much a taxpayer owes the government.
When the same practices are applied across numerous returns and multiple filing seasons, relatively small changes on individual returns can collectively produce a substantial tax loss.
Federal authorities say Cust’s conduct resulted in more than $1.4 million in losses to the IRS, demonstrating the potential scale of a return-preparer case involving multiple clients and several tax years.
What Happens Next for Edris Cust
The next major stage of the federal case will be sentencing.
Because Cust has pleaded guilty, the proceeding is no longer simply an accusation that she committed the charged conduct. A federal judge will now determine the appropriate sentence after considering the applicable sentencing guidelines and statutory factors.
Cust could face imprisonment, although the Justice Department’s announcement did not specify the sentence prosecutors intend to seek.
The statutory maximum is three years.
Additional financial consequences may also arise in federal tax cases, but the Justice Department’s August 28 announcement did not provide details about restitution, fines, or other financial penalties that may ultimately be imposed on Cust. Those outcomes should not be assumed until the court proceedings establish them.
For taxpayers, the case also illustrates why federal authorities encourage consumers to review returns carefully before submitting them, even when a professional prepares them.
A taxpayer should understand the filing status, income, deductions, credits, business expenses and other significant information appearing on a return before signing or authorizing its submission.
Edris Cust’s guilty plea now moves the federal prosecution toward sentencing, while IRS Criminal Investigation continues its involvement in the case.
The Justice Department had not announced Cust’s sentencing date as of its August 28 release.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, Press Release No. 26-992, August 28, 2026.
