U.S. government suing 125 Jackson Hewitt outlets for tax fraud.

• Position: National - United States - Brief article

The U.S. government has sued the operators of more than 125 Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. tax preparation offices, accusing them of cheating the U.S. Treasury out of more than $70 million through a "pervasive and massive series of tax-fraud schemes."

The complaints target five franchises that operate offices located in the Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and Raleigh-Durham, as well as 24 individuals.

Jackson Hewitt is the second largest U.S. tax preparer, with 5,802 franchised and 724 company-owned offices as of Jan. 31.

Jackson Hewitt said in a statement: "The complaints announced by the Department of Justice are limited to one franchisee, whose entities noted in the complaints operate more than 125 locations out of more than 6,500 Jackson Hewitt locations...