The operator of a tax preparation business who admitted defrauding his clients out of more than $1.2 million by diverting their tax refunds into his bank accounts was sentenced on June 12 to 46 months in federal prison.

Michael Joseph Calalang Cabuhat, 42, a resident of the Hollywood Hills West neighborhood of Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter. Cabuhat refers to himself in online postings as “celebritytaxguy,” according to the United States Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.

Walter said Cabuhat’s scheme was “vicious” because it caused financial and emotional harm to victims/clients. The judge noted that the stolen money was used to enhance Cabuhat’s lifestyle, allowing him to obtain a large house and luxury car, “all on the backs of these individuals who placed their trust” in Cabuhat, Walter said.

Cabuhat is a half-owner of VisionQwest Resource Group Inc., which operates VisionQwest Accountancy Group and Icon Tax Group in Glendale. By pleading guilty, Cabuhat admitted that from 2010 through 2016, he defrauded his clients in two ways.

In some instances, the client was given a copy of a tax return that showed a much smaller refund amount than on the tax return that Cabuhat actually filed with the IRS. Sometimes, Cabuhat would increase the amount of tax owed on the taxpayer’s copy of the return, thereby decreasing the refund. Other times, he manipulated the expenses reported on the filed returns to increase the refund.

Without the taxpayer’s knowledge, Cabuhat filed paperwork that directed the IRS to deposit the small amount reflected on the taxpayer’s copy of the tax return into the taxpayer’s bank account, and to deposit the remainder into a bank account that Cabuhat controlled.

In other instances, Cabuhat gave the client a copy of a tax return that falsely showed a tax due, but Cabuhat filed with the IRS a tax return that sought a refund. In these instances, Cabuhat would tell the taxpayer to make the “tax payment” directly to him so he could remit the payment to the IRS. Cabuhat kept the “tax payment” and directed the IRS to deposit the refund that the client should have received into a bank account that he controlled.