Albany police shutter unlicensed tax business

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ALBANY — Police shut down a tax preparation business Thursday after discovering it did not have a license to operate in the town, sending dozens of customers away without their promised tax refunds or documents.

Village police ordered employees out and an officer parked outside the Just For You tax preparation outlet to inform customers of the closure.

A red-lettered sign was taped to the door which read “Notice: This business is closed until further notice by the Albany Police Department.”

Another branch of the business, in Hammond, was also shut down Thursday. A sign on the window said the business was “Closed due to Processing.”

Wednesday, dozens of customers gathered outside the business on La. 43, angry that they hadn’t received promised refund checks, officers said.

“It was bad yesterday,” police Capt. Leon Winstead said outside the shop. Officers had to force people to allow the employees of the store to drive out of the parking lot, he said.

“They can keep the money, I just want my paperwork,” said Andre Coleman, who came by Thursday hoping to find the store open. “I was supposed to get it on the 8th, then on the 15th.”

Instead of a refund, Coleman was interviewed by State Police detectives.

Trooper Russell Graham refused to comment, but did confirm that State Police were investigating.

Alisha Watts, of Hammond, said this was the second year she had filed with Just For You, but the first time she had a problem.

“I have been coming here every day since the first,”
she said. “I am just worried about my information being stolen.”

On Thursday afternoon, technicians were disconnecting a cable from the building to prevent any data stored on computers from being accessed from outside, said Jay Slagle, who said he manages the property.

The store had been open since mid-November on a monthly lease, Slagle said.

“This is all something new for us,” Albany Police Chief Russell Hutchinson said. Police had been called to the scene every day for a couple of weeks, Hutchinson said, mainly to deal with the traffic congestion caused by cars belonging to people waiting to get into the business.

Officers were in the process of notifying the Internal Revenue Service, Hutchinson said. A Livingston Parish sheriff’s detective also was helping Albany police investigate the store, he said.