Maine barbershop tax preparer charged with diverting clients' refunds to himself
Thierry Musese, 35, ran a tax preparation side business out of FreshCutz, the barbershop he owned in Auburn, Maine. A federal grand jury indicted him in February 2025 on 31 counts of preparing false tax returns, 2 counts of false statements on his own returns and 9 counts of wire fraud, alleging he fabricated business losses, fuel tax credits and energy credits for at least 17 clients across the 2021–2023 tax years — and diverted part of some clients' refunds to himself without their permission, while giving them copies of returns that did not match what he actually filed with the IRS.
- Year
- 2025
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Charged — an allegation, not a conviction
- Victims
- 17
- Schemes
- Fraudulent tax preparers
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-11
The facts, as recorded
- Musese, 35, owned and operated FreshCutz, a barbershop at 62 Spring St. in Auburn, Maine, where he also ran a paid tax return preparation business.
- A federal grand jury indicted him on 5 February 2025 on 31 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, 2 counts of making false statements on his own tax returns, and 9 counts of wire fraud.
- The indictment alleges that for the 2021 and 2022 tax years he prepared and filed false returns for 17 taxpayers, including fabricated business losses, bogus fuel tax credits and residential energy credits that generated refunds the clients were not entitled to.
- The IRS revoked Musese's electronic filing identification number in August 2023 after finding fraudulent returns had been filed using it; the indictment alleges he continued preparing false returns for the 2023 tax year regardless.
- The indictment alleges Musese diverted a portion of some clients' refunds to himself without their authorisation, and gave those clients copies of tax returns that differed from the versions he actually filed with the IRS — concealing the diversion from the people he was supposedly serving.
- If convicted, Musese faces up to three years in prison on each false-return count and up to 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count.
Why this case matters
Most of the scale cases on this page involve a dedicated tax-prep storefront. This one is smaller and, in some ways, more revealing: a side business run out of a barbershop, allegedly used to quietly skim clients’ own refunds — not just to inflate what the government paid out, but to take a cut of what should have reached the client.
Two different returns
The most specific allegation here is not just that the filed returns were false, but that Musese allegedly gave some clients paper copies that did not match what he actually submitted to the IRS — meaning a client checking their own return would have seen a different document than the one the government received.
Filing after the IRS cut him off
The IRS revoked his ability to e-file in August 2023 after fraudulent returns turned up under his identification number. The indictment alleges he kept preparing false returns anyway — a detail that, if proven, speaks to intent rather than a pattern of honest mistakes.
The caveat
Musese has been indicted, not convicted. Everything above is drawn from a federal indictment and is, at this stage, an allegation — Musese is presumed innocent unless and until the government proves the charges in court.
Sources
- Maine Return Preparer Charged with Preparing False Tax Returns for Clients. US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. Accessed 2026-09-11. Supports: The indictment date, the exact charges and count totals, the 17-taxpayer figure, the 2021–2023 tax years, the fabricated business losses and credits, the diverted-refund and mismatched-return-copy allegations, the EFIN revocation, and the maximum penalties.
- Former Auburn barbershop owner indicted on tax fraud charges. Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine). Accessed 2026-09-11. Supports: Musese's age, the FreshCutz business name and 62 Spring St. address, and corroboration of the charge counts and diverted-refund allegation.