Naples tax preparer pleads guilty to filing fraudulent returns from local barbershop

Wilner Cenecharles pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns and defrauding the IRS of $65,000 while operating a tax service from a Naples barbershop.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 13, 2026, 11:00 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Tax Fraud Operation Based in Naples Barbershop Exposed

A Collier County tax preparer is facing federal prison time after admitting to a systematic scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Wilner Cenecharles pleaded guilty on Monday to six counts of assisting in the preparation of false tax documents and two counts of filing false personal tax returns. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Cenecharles operated Motivation Tax Financial Services out of the Excelsior Barber Shop in Naples, where he met with clients and orchestrated the fraudulent filings.

Fabricated Business Losses and Fictitious Credits

Court documents reveal that Cenecharles utilized several deceptive tactics to secure larger refunds for his clients than they were legally entitled to receive. Investigators found that on multiple occasions, he added false profits or losses from fictitious businesses to tax returns. Additionally, he included "bogus" educational credits to further inflate the fraudulent refunds. These actions resulted in a total loss to the federal government of more than $65,000, an amount Cenecharles has now agreed to pay back in full as restitution.

Personal Tax Evasion and Unreported Fees

The federal investigation also uncovered that Cenecharles was failing to report his own income accurately. In addition to the fraudulent client returns, he did not report the correct amount of gross receipts on his personal income tax filings. Specifically, Cenecharles omitted thousands of dollars in tax preparation fees he collected from his clients at the barbershop. This dual-layered fraud—cheating on behalf of clients while simultaneously evading personal tax liabilities—formed the basis of the multi-count indictment.