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Castaneda filed returns for customers at his business, El Nevado Taxes, 239 East Milwaukee St., in Whitewater.

According to a criminal complaint:

Castaneda allegedly filed around 340 fraudulent refunds between February 2021 to February 2022, of which 33 were refunded from the state Department of Revenue for a loss of $33,356, with an attempt to defraud the department of approximately $331,656.

Castaneda prepared tax returns for undocumented workers, who sometimes used someone else’s name or Social Security number to secure employment, and who uses Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers issued by the IRS.

Castaneda allegedly used his position as a tax preparer to exploit his clients’ undocumented status by filing fraudulent returns using their W-2 forms, sometimes adding a fake spouse to get a lower tax bracket, and often claimed a $300 school property tax credit that was not claimed in the original return.

After an undocumented worker’s tax return was filed, Castaneda allegedly then used that same W-2 to file a fraudulent return under a different name and SSN or ITIN and once an issue was returned, he would deposit the proceeds into his bank account.

All fraudulent returns were listed with addresses associated with Castaneda, including his business on East Milwaukee Street in Whitewater and his previous residence on East Geneva Street in Elkhorn.

Of the 33 fraudulent claims processed through the state Department of Revenue, Castaneda’s charges were tied to 5 of them, according to the criminal complaint.

If convicted on all counts, Castaneda faces up to 70 years in prison and fines up to $125,000 plus court costs.

Lucas Bennewitz, an assistant attorney general from the Criminal Litigation Unit in the Wisconsin Department of Justice is prosecuting the case following an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue Office of Criminal Investigation.

Special Agent Paul Libecki, who works for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, said in the complaint that the defendant admitted to cashing some of the checks and said he thought he could get away with it and that he thought it was free money.

Castaneda is scheduled to appear in Walworth County Circuit Court on Tuesday Sept. 19 at 1:15 p.m.