Largest tax preparation company steals from minorities?

2009-01-15 05:43:47 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Featured, Justice News Flash)

New York attorney general files fraud claim against H&R Block

H&R Block sued by New York attorney general for fraud

New York, NY (JusticeNewsFlash.com)-H&R Block has been preparing taxes for over 50 years, so why not trust H&R Block with your IRA retirement money. That’s what hundreds of thousands of lower income clients thought and did. These trusting people were lead to believe their IRA retirement money was safe; however, it wasn’t. As reported by Reuters, a Supreme Court Appellate Division panel in Manhattan, N.Y. ruled New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, did have sufficient evidence to pursue their lawsuit against H&R Block.

The lawsuit accuses the nations largest tax preparer of failing to tell customers about the hidden fees charged to their Express IRA retirement accounts. These hidden fees, when applied to their retirement accounts, would more than wipeout the interest and income the IRA produced. The attorney general claims H&R block knowingly targeted lower income families because they were not very savvy to the ways of retirement investing and would not ask questions about fees.

This successful appeal overturns a 2007 court ruling to dismiss the case for lack of evidence. Former New York Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, brought allegations of fraud and deceptive marketing practices, in 2006. Spitzer accused H&R Block an affiliate of Ameriprise, Inc., of not giving truthful information to approximately 500,000 tax return customers who invested in an Express IRA accounts.

Roughly 425,000 clients were victims of deceptive practices and lost money. These allegations of fraud and deceptive practices hit the working families who have always struggled to save for their retirement the hardest.