Cornell Beall & Leigh, PC John Beall, Cornell & Beall, PC Took my money and ran! Atlanta Georgia

I recently requested the services of John Beall of Cornell & Beall, PC located in Atlanta, GA to prepare applications on my behlaf for an Offer & Compromise with the IRS and the New York Department of Taxation & Finance.

Mr. Beall and I agreed on a fee of $750 for this service of which $375 was sent to him immediately. He asked if I would "pay via an echeck and not a debit or credit card." (No retainer agreement was signed for this service; but full payment was requested upfront). I told Mr. Beall that I wouldn't be able to send the remaining balance until my check cleared from my bank. He obliged.

In the following days, Mr. Beall sent me several emails in succession requesting the balance. I told him that it was going to be another day before all funds would be released. He expressed disappointment upon hearing this from me, but obliged. Despite this, Mr. Beall kept hounding me for the balance.

I told him that if this was going to be an issue for him, then I would like to cancel the service and request a full refund. Mr. Beall refused to refund my money citing that he had already begun work. However, he said to me in a previous email that work would begin only after he received all of my financial documents needed for this application. I never sent him any of the documents he requested. Here is his actual email to me:

In following over the next day:

1. I will review the returns and send a list of what will be needed in the way of support documentation.
2. If not already, I will need a copy of the most current IRS and NY notices which show balances due. 

3. I will send a budget template for you to fill in as well.  This will need to be filled in with what can be supported.  Remember, all information will come under review so the OIC claims must be supported.

 

Once I have these items I will prepare the OICs within 2 days and send to you for signature.  Once signed you will need to mail them to their respective agencies since it will require original signatures on your part. 

So as you can see, he never produced any work on this case and is just refusing to return my money. Upon further investigation into Mr. Beall's business practice, I learned from John Holden, CPA & Vice-Chair of the GSCPA Professional Ethics Committee in the State of Georgia that:

"Mr. Beall is not a member of the GSCPA, nor does he hold a CPA license from the State of Georgia."

He is misrepresenting himself as a CPA and is falsely advertising himself as such which is nothing but fraud. Please avoid doing business with him at all costs.