By Trevor Bach
The Dallas Morning News
(TNS)
Apr. 16—A mother and son based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been charged by federal prosecutors with fraudulently filling out tax preparation documents.
Around 2019, according to legal documents, Jessie Badillo, a Lancaster resident then in her early 50s, began operating a tax prep business out of a highway strip mall in DeSoto. She was joined by her son, Manuel Badillo Jr., 37, who would later establish a business under his own name out of the same storefront.
And for several years the mother and son also committed fraud together, according to Justice Department charges against the pair, which were filed last month. They are accused of fabricating expenses and deductions, as well as business losses, in order to gin up large refunds. Both Badillos were charged with numerous counts, and face potential prison time.
“Tax preparers occupy a position of trust in our system. We trust that they will accurately and honestly prepare tax returns,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould, the top federal prosecutor for the judicial district that includes D-FW, said in a statement.
“When that trust is violated, through the fictitious creation of deductions and expenses, they don’t just fail their clients, they fail the American people. This is theft from the honest American taxpayer.”
Aaron Wiley, a lawyer representing Manuel Badillo, declined to comment to The Dallas Morning News, and Joe Magliolo, a lawyer representing Jessie Badillo, did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
The elder Badillo has worked as a tax return preparer since at least 2011, according to the indictment. In 2019, she started operating a business called JES Financial Service, out of the DeSoto storefront off Beltline Road. Manuel Badillo has worked as a tax preparer since at least 2020, when he was in his early 30s.
It was also early that year, prosecutors allege, that the duo began preparing fraudulent returns, by issuing returns for customers that included fabricated deductions for items like medical and dental expenses. In other cases, the Badillos concocted bogus business income or expenses, documents say.
“Often the business would be entirely fabricated,” prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
Between early 2020 and early 2023, Jessie Badillo used an IRS electronic filing number—assigned to firms that are authorized tax preparers—to file at least 14 fraudulent returns for customers, according to the indictment. During that period Manuel Badillo also allegedly used the same number to file at least 13 fraudulent returns, including one fake catering business that reported a loss of over $20,000.
But at some point around that time, the IRS revoked that electronic number, which led the two to file several false returns on paper, the indictment alleges. Manuel Badillo also successfully applied for a new electronic number, for a firm called Manny Financial Services operating from the same address. The pair then used that number to file more than a dozen more false returns in 2023 and 2024, according to prosecutors.
Jessie Badillo also twice filed her own false returns, according to the indictment, underreporting two years of income by a combined $145,000.
Jessie Badillo was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, two counts of subscribing to her own false tax returns and 40 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. Manuel Badillo was charged with one count of conspiracy and 25 counts of auditing and assisting in the preparation of false returns.
A jury trial is currently set for June 1. Manuel Badillo has entered a not guilty plea, court documents show. It was unclear if Jessie Badillo had entered a plea.
Photo credit: Igor Nikushin/iStock
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© 2026 The Dallas Morning News. Visit www.dallasnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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