UPDATE 3-UBS client in NJ gets probation for tax evasion.

Source- http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/markets/100228027-1-update-3-ubs-client-nj-gets.html

* New Jersey resident Homann gets 5 years probation, fine

* Judge cites defendant's substantial, significant help

* At least 6 UBS clients have pleaded guilty in past year (Adds details on other UBS clients, ex-banker Birkenfeld)

NEWARK, N.J., Jan 6 - A wealthy UBS AG client who pleaded guilty to failing to report $6.1 million in Swiss bank accounts was sentenced to five years probation, after providing the U.S. government substantial help in advancing a major criminal tax fraud probe.

Juergen Homann, 67, also must pay a $60,000 fine and perform 300 hours community service under orders by U.S. District Judge Stanley Chesler in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. At least five other UBS clients have pleaded guilty to tax violations in the past year in connection with the probe.

Homann, a German-born resident of Saddle River, New Jersey, had pleaded guilty on Sept. 25 to one count of failing to report to U.S. tax authorities the assets he had hidden.

"As an international businessman, I should have known better," Homann told the judge at a sentencing hearing on Wednesday. "I have to take the consequences."

Homann had faced a possible sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the improper gains.

Chesler told Homann that probation was warranted in light of the "substantial and significant assistance" he provided. He said this "may open up substantial additional avenues of exploration" for the government to uncover hidden assets.

Among other UBS clients who have pleaded guilty, two received prison terms while a third got probation, court records show. Another two -- Roberto Cittadini of Bellevue, Washington, and John McCarthy of Malibu, California -- are to be sentenced on Jan. 8 and Jan. 28, records show.

Bradley Birkenfeld, the former UBS banker who is the main whistleblower in the case, is to begin a 40-month prison sentence on Friday.

'GREED'

Homann's sentence is the latest sanction against a UBS client as the United States cracks down on tax fraud.

It follows the Swiss bank's agreement last August to turn over the names of 4,450 wealthy American clients to U.S. tax investigators. Six months earlier, UBS had admitted to criminal wrongdoing for helping U.S. taxpayers hide accounts from the Internal Revenue Service, and accepted a $780 million penalty.

While concluding that Homann "made some correct decisions" in coming forward to admit guilt and help the government, the judge faulted him for having "betrayed his adopted homeland" with his crime.

"What you did here," Chesler told Homann, "is a calculated type of crime which can only be motivated by one thing: greed. You didn't need the money. You just wanted it."

Homann's lawyer, Cynthia Eddy, declined to comment.

COOPERATION

Homann admitted to failing in 2007 to file a form known as an F-BAR for his UBS account in Switzerland, and failing to report the account on his income tax return. He also admitted to failing to report income earned on the account.

It is not illegal to hold funds abroad, but they must be reported for tax purposes.

Prosecutors also said Homann in 2005 hid $5 million by transferring the sum from an account he controlled at UBS, in the name ELM Finance Ltd, to a separate Hong Kong entity.

They said Homann worked with Swiss lawyer Matthias Rickenbach to set up ELM, and was persuaded not to tell the IRS about his holdings.

Rickenbach was indicted in August for conspiring to defraud the United States by helping people evade taxes.

Federal prosecutor Marc-Philip Ferzan, interviewed after the sentencing, called Homann's assistance "very substantial, timely and significant. We take cooperation very seriously."

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Columbus-Area Attorney Arrested On Federal Tax Fraud Charges.

Source- http://www.examiner.com/x-31591-Cincinnati-White-Collar-Crime-Examiner~y2010m1d3-ColumbusArea-Attorney-Arrested-On-Federal-Tax-Fraud-Charges

Aristotle R. “Rick” Matsa, an attorney working and residing in the Columbus suburb of Worthington, was arrested on a 20-count federal indictment of tax fraud, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering on December 21st.

Matsa is accused of setting up a series of foreign trust entities to disguise his income and earnings, preparing fraudulent tax returns that omitted the income and earnings he hid in those entities, and tampering with a witness and giving a false statement to derail the federal investigation of his activities.

According to a Department of Justice press release, Matsa also claimed fraudulent tax deductions and used funds from the trusts to buy a farm in Hocking County as well as a house in Worthington during the past decade. Matsa also involved his mother, Loula Matsa, and close friend and Urbana lawyer George Z. Pappas in his schemes, using his mother’s bank account to hide income and naming his law practice after Pappas to hide its ownership.

Pappas then lied to a grand jury about this ownership, leading to his arrest on a federal charge of making a false statement. This charge normally carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years’ supervised release, but Pappas agreed to a plea bargain in exchange for providing the information that led to Matsa’s arrest, so his punishment will probably be considerably reduced.

If Matsa is convicted, he could face 90 years in prison, a fine of $5,000,000, and supervised release of 5 years (at which point the 53-year-old will be 143 years old if he serves the maximum). It’s possible Matsa’s arrest will spur federal investigations into Matsa’s other activities, including his real estate companies Spectrum Companies, Landmarks U.S.A., and Protidea Ltd., his architectural-services company Architects Spectrum Ltd., and the several churches he incorporated in Ohio. Matsa, in addition to being a lawyer, is a licensed real estate broker, a licensed architect, and a licensed minister.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Palisades Park school district owes more than $1M to IRS as result of fraud.

Source- http://www.northjersey.com/news/123009_Palisades_Park_school-district_owes_more_than_1M_to_IRS_as_result_of_fraud.html

The Palisades Park School District has been defrauded out of more than $1 million in taxes that its payroll company, Rochelle Park-based Ameripay, did not pay to the state and federal governments, district officials said.

The district is one of more than 100 private and government Ameripay clients, including the cities of Clifton and Summit, that lost millions to the company and must now pay the Internal Revenue Service.

Superintendent Mark Hayes said the district is out $1.034 million in state and federal taxes from 2008 and 2009 that, according to the FBI and the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, were among the funds Ameripay illegally used to prop up its business.

The district’s loss is among the largest of any Ameripay client to date and does not include approximately $100,000 in penalties and interest.

“This has been a nightmare,” Hayes said. “We’re in negotiations with the IRS over this $1.034 million, and it’s premature at this point to say what our exact liability is.”

An outside accountant hired by the district to settle with the government said that it would be “devastating” to the district if it was forced to pay the full amount.

The district submitted an offer to the IRS – officials would not disclose how much – on Nov. 30 and will likely receive a response within 60 days.

But the accountant, Anthony Ferrara of Jersey City, said the IRS has shown flexibility during the process. He said he expects the district will be able to negotiate the amount owed and probably won’t have to pay penalties.

“Right now, school goes on,” Ferrara said. “The buses are rolling, the kids are being educated, the teachers are paid.”

The FBI arrested Ameripay’s owners, Paul Bultmeyer of Upper Saddle River and Arthur Piacentini of Saddle Brook, in May on wire fraud charges.

In a scheme FBI officials described as “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” the men allegedly used funds from two unregistered investment companies and Ameripay to make unrelated tax payments to the IRS.

The company also allegedly used the funds from the co-mingled accounts of Ameripay and the investment companies to pay out “interest” to investors, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court and a civil complaint filed by the SEC.

Bultmeyer’s attorney, Gerald Krovatin, and Piacentini’s lawyer, Jack Arsenault, did not return phone calls requesting comment.

It isn’t clear how much money was taken from all of the payroll clients, but Clifton lost about $900,000, its business administrator said.

The Board of Education hired Ameripay in 2000, said Hayes, who was the business administrator at the time, because officials wanted a payroll firm “with a personal touch.”

The firm performed its duties until the last quarter of 2008, when $489,000 meant for tax obligations was siphoned off, and the first five months of 2009, when approximately $550,000 was taken, Hayes said.

When district officials learned about the arrests, they contacted Michael Sirota, the lawyer appointed as the receiver in the SEC case. Hayes said officials were told the district was not among Ameripay’s victims, but the IRS informed them in September that they owed more than $1 million.

Sirota, who works at the firm Cole Schotz, did not return calls requesting comment.

The IRS holds that employers are responsible for tax liabilities, even when the function is outsourced, according to Ferrara.

Approximately 80 percent of settlement offers are rejected by the IRS, according to Ferrara and IRS statistics. But Ferrara said the negotiations may be affected by the fact that the district, unlike municipalities, such as Clifton, does not have the ability to bond for the cash.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Ex-school worker’s time in fraud case likely 4-10 months.

Jeffrey Piazza, a former Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center employee, leaves the Scranton federal courthouse after pleading guilty to mail fraud

Source- http://www.timesleader.com/news/Ex-school_worker_rsquo_s_time_in_fraud_case_likely_4-10_months_12-30-2009.html

SCRANTON – A former Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center employee pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges he accepted thousands of dollars in kickbacks in exchange for helping a technology vendor land deals with the center.

Jeffrey Piazza, 33, of Jenkins Township, entered the plea in federal court before U.S. District Judge James Munley.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Piazza will likely face no more than four to 10 months in prison, however, based on federal sentencing guidelines.

Piazza, who resigned from his $55,700 job as an attendance coordinator at the center in November, is represented by attorney Christopher Caputo. He will be sentenced on the charge on March 30.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Houser said Piazza, who is charged with a felony count of mail fraud, conspired with a vendor who supplied technology equipment to the center to inflate the prices of the equipment so that kickbacks could be paid to Piazza. The crimes occurred between June 2006 and February 2009.

Houser said Piazza made statements that the prices were “fair” and “reasonable” so that the school would accept the contracts so that he would be able to collect the hidden kickbacks, which totaled $10,000 to $30,000.

Court papers say Piazza and the vendor created false records, some of which were created by a third unnamed person, to make it appear as if the vendor paid the third person for providing training, consulting and technical services.

The vendor then filed forms with the IRS that “falsely reported the payment of ‘non-employee compensation’ to a third person who, in fact, had not performed any services.” Those IRS forms are the basis for a charge of mail fraud.

Houser said Piazza participated with “knowledge, intent to receive kickbacks and to illegally use the U.S. Postal Service” in committing the crimes.

“Did you do the things he says you did?” Munley asked Piazza.

“Yes,” Piazza replied.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not identified the vendor, but the FBI has taken records related to Intellacom Inc. from the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center and several other schools, including Pittston Area, Wyoming Valley West and Luzerne County Community College.

Records show the career center did more than $1 million in business with Intellacom from 2003 through 2008.

Intellacom is owned by Anthony Trombetta, who also owned the defunct restaurant Portafino’s, where Jeff Piazza had worked part time, after Piazza closed a Kingston restaurant he ran from 2002 to 2007.

That restaurant, Gellpia’z, closed after defaulting on $117,850 owed on a business development loan from Luzerne County. Piazza opened a new restaurant, La Piazza, in Jenkins Township last year.

Trombetta also owns Terra Firma Inc., which developed Insignia Point in Jenkins Township, where Piazza lives.

Neither Intellacom nor Trombetta has been accused of any wrongdoing.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

4 from Central Jersey indicted in tax-return scheme.

Source- http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20091224/CRIME/91224031/-1/newsfront/4-from-Central-Jersey-indicted-in-tax-return-scheme

CENTRAL JERSEY — Four men already facing federal tax fraud charges have been indicted on state charges that they conspired to steal more than $435,000 by filing New Jersey tax returns under bogus identities.

Among them are Johnson Coker, 50, of Old Bridge, also known as Adeyemisi Toyusini, and Adebowale Sheba, 38, of Franklin. They are accused of conspiring to get at least 585 fraudulent state tax-refund checks between February 2005 and February 2008, state Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a news release.

A state grand jury indictment charges Coker with conspiracy, money laundering, receiving stolen property, use of personal identifying information of another and theft by deception. Sheba is charged with conspiracy and two counts of theft by deception.

Also charged were Taiwo D. Daisi, 39, of Roselle and Ugochukwu H. Madubuike, 30, of Orange, Milgram said.

The four men have already been charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, in connection with thousands of fraudulent U.S. income tax returns.

The returns were filed using stolen identities, including Social Security numbers, state authorities said. Some identities were taken from clients of Madubuike, who was a case worker for the state Division of Youth and Family Services.

Others were made up or taken from deceased people, Milgram said. They led to sham refund checks that were mailed to 27 different addresses used by the defendants.

The checks were then cashed against or deposited into bank accounts maintained by Coker, Daisi, Madubuike and two women, and into an account maintained by Daisi for his tax business. The indictment also charges Sheba and Coker with using false information to obtain mortgages for homes in Newark and Old Bridge, Milgram said.

Coker, Daisi and Sheba were arrested Nov. 18, while Madubuike was arrested by federal authorities in November 2008, Milgram said. The men face up to 10 years in prison and $150,000 if convicted of the second-degree crimes. Coker and Sheba are both being held without bail at the Essex County Jail.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Tiger Woods May Face IRS Tax Charges.

Source- http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sports/tiger-woods-may-face-irs-tax-charges_100292747.html

(THAINDIAN NEWS) The celebrated golfer Tiger Woods, whose sexual scandals are making the news headlines, is facing a tough timethese days.

Eighteen mistresses have already revealed to have had an affair with the golf pro and has dismantled his marital life. While his wife has decided to end the marriage, many of his sponsors have decided to terminate the contract that they have signed with the golf pro for promoting their brand. The golfer who is already entangled by the reports of media, disappointment of wife and sponsors might face more problems if the IRS decides to file tax filing charges against him.

The reports of multiple affairs and paying them thousands of dollars have raised the question whether the golfer used his own money or used the money of his business. According to the reports, if the golfer used to fund the payment of his prostitutes and mistresses from his business account, then he should prepare for a tough time. IRS does not consider these types of expenses as legal expenditure for running a business. If the golfer has used business fund, then IRS might charge him for claiming tax deduction in an illegal manner.

The golfer can only avoid the difficult situation if he has paid his mistresses from his own money. The income that the golfer secures from his game and sponsors has been already taxed and paying the money to mistresses from this account would help him avoid any tax related problems. It is still unknown whether the golfer has used business fund or own income for expenditures on his mistresses.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Art Dealer Levy Given Jail Term.

Source- http://www.gazettes.com/articles/2009/12/21/community_news/doc4b294fd152bbf660020448.txt

Prominent Naples art dealer Michael Levy was sentenced Monday to three years in federal prison for tax fraud.

The case in U.S. District Court was heard in Los Angeles. Levy settled the case with a plea bargain that also includes one year of supervised release once he gets out of prison.

Levy was charged with, and admitted in the plea bargain that he had, diverted more than $3 million in gross gallery receipts between 2003 and 2007 from his business accounts.

By not making those deposits, the money did not show up in his tax returns. The Internal Revenue Service says Levy avoided paying more than $899,00 in taxes.
Levy has had a long career in Long Beach as a gallery owner and fine art dealer. He has dealt mainly in high-end art, although he also owned the Art of Hands gallery and store downtown.

Several years ago, Levy relocated his gallery from downtown Long Beach to Naples. In November 2008, he moved to a smaller space in Naples, saying his business was focusing more on estate handling with private collectors.

According to the IRS, Levy converted more than 80 customer checks into cash over the four-year period. That in essence hid the business income from his tax preparer.

In addition to the $899,000 in unpaid taxes, Levy is responsible for a civil fraud penalty for the years the taxes were not paid.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Woman sentenced for fraud.

Source- http://www.manchesterjournal.com/local/ci_14023885

ARLINGTON -- An East Arlington woman was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to serve 18 months in prison for wire fraud and filing a false tax return.

Denise M. Hall, 51, of East Arlington, agreed to a plea deal in June.

She was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return, after taking about $153,000 from her employer, Rosemary Altea of Dorset, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney William Darrow.

Hall was employed by Altea, a nationally known self-proclaimed psychic and spiritual medium, who has appeared on "Oprah" and "Larry King Live," between 2001 and 2008 as an office manager and bookkeeper.

Darrow said Hall asked Judge William K. Sessions for probation, claiming at the sentencing hearing to have a "serious mental health disorder" that explained her actions.

Darrow said the government argued it was "greed and opportunity," however, that led to Hall's actions.

Sessions noted the fraud lasted several years when delivering the sentence. He also ordered Hall to repay the entire sum to Altea. Hall must report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on Jan. 19 to begin her sentence.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.

The maximum penalties under federal law are 20 years in prison for wire fraud, and 3 years in prison for the tax fraud.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Pamela Anderson hit with a pair of IRS tax liens.

Source -http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/12/07/pam-anderson-hit-with-a-pair-of-tax-liens/

Pamela Anderson is in the news again but not necessarily for the reasons she hoped. The former Baywatch babe and Playboy model had hoped to cause a stir upon the release of her new pop song, "High" in early 2010 (the song is co-produced by fashion, um, designer Richie Rich).

Instead, she's making headlines for high... tax liens. WalletPop previously reported on Pam's money woes in October, which were allegedly related to construction problems at her dream home.

The actress tried to downplay concerns about her finances in the press, saying, "Mistakes may have been made in calculating taxes owed and we are now in the process of ensuring that any taxes owed are paid."Those mistakes have led to a pair of problems for the actress. The IRS has filed a $1,700,173 lien against Anderson with the Los Angeles County Recorder of Deeds. Earlier this year, the state of California filed a $252,360 tax lien against her in Los Angeles.

A federal tax lien can only be filed by the IRS after the tax is assessed; a Notice and Demand for Payment is mailed; and the taxpayer neglects or refuses to fully pay the debt. If payment isn't made after 10 days of receipt of the notice, the IRS files a tax lien for the amount of the debt. The lien attaches to property (such as Pam's house) and puts other creditors on notice.State tax liens generally operate in the same manner.

Despite the liens and rumors about her finances, the 42-year-old mother of two swears she'll be fine. She's weathered storms before, including a number of divorces, spousal abuse and a hepatitis C diagnosis. The not-so-naturally blonde bombshell first made news in 1989, when she modeled for Playboy magazine. She has since made the cover of a number of magazines and was named by the Guinness Book as the world record holder for being the "most down loaded" star.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Ex-I.R.S. Agent Says Tax Evasion by Real Estate Partners Is Huge.

Source - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/business/07taxes.html?_r=1

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 — Investors in real estate partnerships evade billions of dollars in federal taxes each year, even though detecting this type of cheating is easy, a former specialist in partnerships for the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday. The states, especially New York, also lose vast sums, according to the specialist, Jerry Curnutt, who retired from the tax agency in 2000.

Mr. Curnutt, who now works from his home in Arlington, Tex., said that a statistical report released by the I.R.S. last week indicated that cheating on the reporting of real estate partnership gains was growing sharply.

“Nationally, in 2005, at least $20 billion of gain from real estate tax shelters was unreported,” he said, “and in New York State, the epicenter of the business, the figure may be as high as $5 billion.” Those figures suggest that the federal government was shorted $5 billion and New York State about $385 million from real estate tax shelter partnerships.

Just one form of real estate partner income, known as a 1231 gain after a section of the tax code, totaled $181.3 billion in 2005, up 87 percent over 2004. The actual gain, Mr. Curnutt said, was at least $232 billion and probably much more.

This form of income, for gains on previously depreciated real estate, is subject to a 25 percent capital gains tax rate. Tens of billions of dollars of such gains go untaxed each year, Mr. Curnutt said, because they are either not reported at all or are misreported as long-term capital gains and taxed at a 15 percent rate.

Mr. Curnutt says that cheating by real estate partners is as easy to stop as it is to do.
During his career at the I.R.S., Mr. Curnutt won multiple awards for finding ways to identify investment partners who cheat on their taxes. He once showed how an investment of just $10 in a partnership cost the government about $350 million in taxes.

One of Mr. Curnutt’s principal findings is that audits of real estate partnerships are effective only if done in the year that property is sold or traded. The reason is that real estate partnerships typically report little or no profit for the 20 years or more that the property is being depreciated. It is only when the property is sold or traded that the partnership reports an income.

Partnerships themselves do not pay taxes. Instead, the obligation flows through to individual investors. But while Congress requires that employers, banks and other institutions verify the wages and major deductions reported by most taxpayers, it trusts real estate partners to report their income fully without independent verification, except for audits. Last year, the I.R.S. thoroughly audited just one in 356 partnerships.

A leading tax lawyer, Richard M. Lipton, a partner at Baker & McKenzie in Chicago, noted that partnerships and similar structures, rather than corporate structures, now dominate in smaller enterprises. “Do I believe that many small businesses cut some corners in reporting things? You betcha,” Mr. Lipton said. “Do I think that it is more likely this occurs in partnerships than corporations? Of course.”

In 2006, there were nearly 1.3 million real estate partnerships, with more than 6 million partners, I.R.S. reports show. More than 80 percent of reported partnership income goes to taxpayers making more than $200,000 annually.

Mr. Lipton said he agreed with Mr. Curnutt that it would be easy to detect such cheating if auditors were directed to focus on the issue and time their audits appropriately. But while the I.R.S. gave Mr. Curnutt multiple awards for identifying ways to catch partnership cheats, and he ran seminars for both I.R.S. and state tax auditors to teach his techniques, it never adopted his audit strategy.

The I.R.S. did execute Mr. Curnutt’s plan to give the states data needed to identify tax cheating among real estate partners. Mr. Curnutt singled out New York State tax officials for not using that data, even though New York defines income almost exactly the same way the federal government does, making it easy to mine the I.R.S. reports.

Jeffrey Gordon, spokesman for the state budget division, said that New York had 400 auditors working on all types of partnerships and that their work identified about $500 million annually in unpaid taxes and interest. He said no breakdown was available on what types of partnerships were caught in audits.

Mr. Curnutt said that $500 million might be due from real estate partnerships alone, which constitute about a fourth of all partnership assets. Mr. Curnutt offered to help 29 states, including New York, ferret out tax cheats, working for expenses and earning a modest fee only if he found significant amounts of untaxed or undertaxed income. Only one state, Pennsylvania, retained Mr. Curnutt, though it ranked far down on his list of states where tax reporting rules made such cheating a particular problem. Pennsylvania just renewed his contract for the fifth time.

Mr. Curnutt said an official in one state, Kentucky, told him his offer was rejected in part because the people likely to be caught cheating were also likely to be campaign contributors. The I.R.S. said it was aware of the problem, regarded it as a priority and was working on it. Bruce I. Friedland, an I.R.S. spokesman, said that the agency had “concerns about problems in the partnership arena, and we have been steadily increasing our audit attention in this area.”

When a modern database to store all tax return information becomes fully operational, probably by 2012, the I.R.S. will be able to use statistical techniques to better identify cheats, said Richard Spires, the deputy commissioner who oversees I.R.S. technology.

Currently the I.R.S. uses four-decade-old software that requires searching through every taxpayer file to find information on any specific taxpayer or partnership, a cumbersome and time-consuming process.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting http://www.irsrewards.com/.

David Yost, age 55, and Paula Yost, age 48, of Osage Beach, Missouri, will serve a year and a half in federal prison for income tax evasion.

Source - http://www.kspr.com/news/local/73835697.html

A couple from Osage Beach will serve a year and a half in prison for tax evasion. The Colorado Attorney General says David and Paula Yost operated a plumbing businesses when they lived in Littleton, Colorado from 1993 to 2002. They pleaded guilty to not paying taxes for a number of their employees while they operated the businesses. They also undereported their income.

FULL PRESS RELEASE: David Yost, age 55, and Paula Yost, age 48, of Osage Beach, Missouri, were sentenced yesterday to federal prison sentences for tax evasion by U.S. District Court Judge Marcia S. Krieger, U.S. Attorney David M. Gaouette and IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Sigerson, announced. David and Paula Yost were both sentenced to serve 18 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years on supervised release. They were also ordered to each pay a $200 Special Assessment to a general court victims of crime fund.

They were ordered to report to a facility designated by the Bureau of Prisons on or before January 29, 2010. David and Paula Yost remain free on personal recognizance bonds pending their reporting to prison.David and Paula Yost were indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on December 3, 2007 on tax evasion charges. They both pled guilty on March 9, 2009. Their sentences were pronounced by Judge Krieger yesterday, November 23, 2009.

According to information contained in the Yost’s indictment and plea agreement, David Yost and Paula Yost were residents of Littleton, Colorado, from 1993 until 2002. Between 1988 and 2001, the Yosts operated plumbing businesses through various entities including: Dave’s Plumbing, a sole proprietorship, between at least 1988 and 1990; Dave’s Plumbing and Heating, a sole proprietorship, in Colorado, between at least 1993 and 1995; Payday Plumbing and Heating Services, Inc., a Colorado corporation, between at least 1995 and 1998; and Dave’s Plumbing and Heating Specialists, Inc. (“DPHS”), a Colorado corporation, between at least 1998 and September 27, 2001.

The entities controlled by the Yosts employed individuals who were paid wages. From approximately April 30, 1988 through January 31, 1991, the Yosts filed or caused to be filed twelve Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Returns (Form 941) on behalf of Dave's Plumbing from the first quarter of 1998 through fourth quarter of 1990. For nine of these twelve quarters, the Yosts made no payments toward these employment tax liabilities. For the remaining three quarters, the Yosts paid only a small portion of the amount owed. The Yosts did willfully attempt to evade and defeat the payment of a large part of the federal employment tax due and owing, in an amount of approximately $99,488.36.

From approximately July 31, 1999 through at least October 31, 2001, the Yosts filed or caused to be filed eight Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Returns (Form 941), on behalf of DPHS, for the second through fourth quarters of 1999, the second through fourth quarters of 2000, the second and third quarter of 2001 and one Employer's Annual Unemployment Tax Return (Form 940) for 2001, with the IRS. The Yosts did willfully attempt to evade and defeat the payment of a large part of the federal employment tax due and owing by DPHS, in an amount of approximately $87,847.63.

Additionally, on or about March 14, 2003, the Yosts filed with the IRS a joint U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (Form 1040) for tax year 2001 reporting only W-2 income from DPHS in the total amount of $4,600. The defendants did not list as income on this 2001 Form 1040 any of the money from the sale of DPHS that they spent on personal expenses. Accordingly, the defendants under reported his joint income for the tax year 2001 by approximately $231,132.59.

After taking into account the adjustments to income, the defendants’ corrected joint taxable income for 2001 is $203,736.00, resulting in a tax due and owing for tax year 2001 of at least $24,820. “Paying taxes is an essential part of our duty as citizens of this country,” said U.S. Attorney David Gaouette.“Employers who commit Employment Tax Fraud by failing to remit withheld employment taxes are not only defrauding the IRS, they are creating financial havoc for their employees,” said Christopher M. Sigerson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

IRS Files $34M Lien Against ‘Girls Gone Wild’ Founder.

Joe Francis

Source- http://www.webcpa.com/news/IRS-Files-Lien-Against-Girls-Gone-Wild-Founder-52518-1.html

Joe Francis, CEO of the company that produces the racy “Girls Gone Wild” video series, is in trouble with the IRS again only weeks after a judge sentenced him to time served for tax evasion charges.

The IRS filed the lien for three years of back taxes, from 2001 to 2003, totaling $33,819,087.14. “This is total retaliation for beating them in court,” he told TMZ.com. He plans to file for personal bankruptcy.

Francis pleaded guilty last month to two misdemeanor counts of filing false tax returns. After a judge approved his plea deal earlier this month, Francis agreed to pay restitution, back taxes and interest totaling $249,705, plus a fine of $10,000, and he was sentenced to time served (see Judge Frees ‘Girls Gone Wild’ Founder). He served 301 days in jail between June 2007 and March 2008.

Francis has claimed that his CPA, former Mantra Films CFO Michael Barrett, conspired with two others to embezzle millions of dollars from the company and then contacted the tax authorities to cover his tracks as well as win a whistleblower award from the IRS.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Federal Court Shuts Down Los Angeles Area Tax Preparer.

Source - http://soa.sys-con.com/node/1196382

Torrance, California Woman Allegedly Claimed Millions in Fraudulent Tax "Refunds" Based on Phony Claims of Large Tax Withholding

A federal court in Los Angeles has issued permanent injunctions barring a Torrance, Calif., tax preparer, Susan Guan and her company, SRN Financial Services Inc., from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The defendants agreed to the injunction orders. The government complaint in the civil case alleged that Guan and SRN promoted a tax-fraud scheme designed to siphon millions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury. Guan allegedly requested a total of $4.5 million in fraudulent refunds.

According to the complaint, the defendants promoted a tax-fraud arrangement known as the "redemption" or "OID redemption" scheme. Guan and her firm allegedly filed a series of false IRS forms, including tax returns, amended returns, and IRS Forms 1099-OID to request fraudulent tax refunds based on phony claims of large income tax withholding. For one of her customers, Susan Guan allegedly requested an $851,786 fraudulent refund on a false amended tax return with 16 bogus Forms 1099-OID to support the refund request. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) catches the vast majority of bogus redemption-scheme tax returns and blocks the claimed refunds.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Feds charge 4 in $11.5 million IRS fraud.

Source- http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1258595710317590.xml&coll=1

Federal authorities charged four New Jersey men yesterday with filing thousands of fake federal income tax returns that claimed refunds totaling nearly $11.5 million.

Using stolen Social Security numbers and 41 different addresses, the men allegedly submitted the forged individual tax forms to the Internal Revenue Service between 2005 and 2009. The IRS issued about $3.2 million in illicit refunds to the men, authorities said.

The defendants were arrested Tuesday night and yesterday morning by U.S. postal inspectors and IRS agents in Essex, Union and Burlington counties. They were charged in federal court in Newark with conspiring to defraud the United States by filing fake tax returns.

If convicted, the men face up to 10 years in prison, said Lee Vartan, an assistant U.S. Attorney. Those arrested were identified as Adebowale Sheba, 38, of Franklin Township, Adeyemisi Toyusini, 50, of Old Bridge, Taiwo Daisi, 39, of Roselle, and Adedeni Adenni, 50, of Lumberton.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz ordered the four detained without bail. All of the defendants were born in Nigeria. Daisi is a citizen; Adenni is a legal resident; and Sheba and Toyusini are in the United States illegally, authorities said.

Authorities began investigating the men in 2007 after an informant told law enforcement officials that his Newark landlord, Sheba, was receiving mail for people who did not live in the apartment building, according to a criminal complaint filed in Newark. Some of that mail was from the IRS, authorities said.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Nearly 15,000 Americans admit offshore tax cheating.

Michael Leupold (L) Director of the Federal Office of Justice and Hans-Joerg Muellhaupt, Project Coordinator wait before a news conference on the administrative assistance in the UBS case in Bern, November 17, 2009. REUTERS/Michael Buholzer

Source- http://www.theusdaily.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=908771

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some 14,700 rich Americans, worried about a stepped-up U.S. crackdown on offshore tax cheats, have turned themselves in under the government's amnesty program.

The Internal Revenue Service amnesty program, which ended in October, offered reduced penalties for voluntarily disclosing previously undeclared foreign holdings. It is part of a broader effort by the United States and other authorities to crack down on tax evasion.

Of the nearly 15,000 newly disclosed accounts, many involved bank accounts in Switzerland and Europe, but assets were hidden in more than 70 countries.

Participation in the IRS program was "unprecedented" and the final number was nearly double the agency's estimate in October, U.S. Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Barbara Kaplan, a lawyer for high net-worth clients in New York, said: "The IRS has never got anything like that in response to prior initiatives. It's a little higher than I anticipated based on the pace of my own practice and the panic that was out there."

A high-profile U.S. lawsuit against Swiss banking giant UBS AG led the bank to agree earlier this year to promise to reveal the names of 4,450 client accounts held by Americans. Those accounts at one time were worth a total of $18 billion.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Petters trial resumes with IRS agent on stand.

Source- http://www.sctimes.com/article/20091116/NEWS01/111160055/-1/RSSTOP

ST. PAUL — An IRS agent testifies again today in the fraud trial of Minnesota businessman Tom Petters.

On Friday, Special Agent Kathy Klug started linking evidence to the 20 separate fraud, conspiracy and money laundering counts that could put Petters in prison for life.

Prosecutor Joe Dixon and Klug walked through the bank statements, wire transfers, e-mails, faxes, letters and other documents behind the first 12 counts. They’ll deal with other counts today.

Prosecutors said they weren’t sure Friday if they’ll call more witnesses after her or rest their case.

Defense attorney Jon Hopeman says he hopes to call up to 10 witnesses today.

The defense hasn’t said if Petters will testify, but Hopeman says the decision is up to Petters.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Four San Jacinto city council members, five others accused of corruption.

Source- http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_sanjacinto13.468cad7.html

In one of the most sweeping public corruption cases to hit the Inland region, four San Jacinto City Council members and five others were indicted Thursday on corruption charges.

Prosecutors say the nine people conspired to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars, conceal campaign contributions and offer bribes as part of a scheme to advance their political agendas.

"These elected officials were entrusted with power and misused that power to advance their own political ambition and to satisfy their greed," Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco said.

"It's a good city with a lot of good folks there. They deserve better," he said.

Those indicted are San Jacinto Mayor Dale Stubblefield, 41; Vice Mayor John Mansperger, 41; Councilman James Potts, 67; and Councilman Jim Ayres, 48.

In addition, Ayres' wife, Nancy Jo Ayres, 44, an elected San Jacinto Unified School District board member, is among those named in the indictment as are developers and businessmen Stephen Russell Holgate, 62, of San Jacinto; Scott Douglas Shaull, 45, of Roseville; Robert Edward Osborne, 69, of Mission Viejo; and Byron Jerry Ellison, Sr., 70, of San Jacinto.

The 155-count indictment includes 56 felonies and 99 misdemeanors including money laundering, tax fraud, bribery, perjury and filing false government documents.

The officials are accused of a complex scheme of kickbacks to campaign contributors or outright deception on campaign forms.

For instance, Holgate and Osborne are accused of conspiring with Jim and Nancy Ayres and the other council members to hide the fact that Holgate and Osborne were the true source of campaign contributions.

More than a dozen residents and businesses made contributions ranging from $800 to $3,300 to Jim Ayres' unsuccessful 2006 bid for the state Assembly's 65th District. Holgate, Osborne and others included in the indictment would then reimburse those residents and businesses for the amount.

In two other instances, the indictment alleges, Holgate was the true source of more than $81,000 in loans that Ayres claimed he made to his own campaign in May and June 2006 and another $21,000 in August, September and October of the same year.

It is unclear from the indictment what Holgate, Osborne and the other businessmen sought to gain by hiding their contributions.

"Laws are useless unless they are enforced," Pacheco said. "Failure to enforce public-integrity laws is a threat to democracy. The public has a right to be free from corrupt individuals."

During the 18-month long investigation, authorities served 32 search warrants, and a special criminal grand jury interviewed more than 120 people.

The nine defendants all appeared in a packed courtroom Thursday in downtown Riverside before Superior Court Judge Michael B. Donner.

They either pleaded not guilty or deferred entering a plea. They will make another court appearance in early December. None commented outside of court.

The maximum sentence some of the defendants could receive is 26 years in prison.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Justice Department Sues to Close Dallas-Area Tax Preparer.

Source- http://au.sys-con.com/node/1178355

Seagoville, Texas Man Allegedly Claims Phony Credits for Customers to Get Tax Refunds. WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States has asked a federal court to shut down a Dallas-area tax return preparer, the Justice Department announced today. The government complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Dallas alleges that Travis Nicholas Stenline of Seagoville, Texas, operates a business he calls Nick Tax or Nick's Taxes that prepares fraudulent returns for customers.

The government complaint alleges that Stenline prepared and filed about 250 federal income tax returns claiming improper refunds exceeding $880,000. Examples of alleged fraud cited in the complaint include bogus claims for telephone excise tax credits, fuel tax credits, and the earned income tax credit.

Return preparer fraud and bogus fuel tax credits are identified by the IRS on its Web site as two of the 2009 "Dirty Dozen" tax scams.

Over the past decade, the Justice Department's Tax Division has obtained more than 430 injunctions to stop tax fraud promoters and dishonest tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department Web site.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Former UBS client jailed over tax.

Source- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6376a106-cb3c-11de-97e0-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

A US court handed down the first prison sentence to a US former client of UBS yesterday in a ruling that will unsettle the Swiss banking group's former offshore customers, reports Haig Simonian in Zurich.

Robert Moran, a US yacht broker, was given a two-month sentence for tax fraud by a court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The sentence was relatively lenient to reflect the co-operation of UK-born Mr Moran with the US authorities but it marked the first custodial term in deepening investigations into US clients of the bank.

Mr Moran, 58, is the third former UBS client tried after the US authorities this year gained the names of 255 of UBS's US offshore customers as part of a $780m (€525m, £470m) settlement of criminal charges against the bank.

The US justice department and Internal Revenue Service should receive details of a further 4,450 clients under another settlement agreed in August to resolve a separate, but linked, civil action.

Prosecutors had sought a sentence of no more than seven months after Mr Moran pleaded guilty to using a UBS account to hide more than $3m in assets

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

IRS Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing Mail.

Source- http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/38327/

Kansas City, MO - infoZine - Matt J. Whitworth, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an IRS employee pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing mail that had been delivered to the IRS service facility on Pershing Road.

Latrice Antionette Murray, 38, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple this afternoon to the charges contained in a Sept. 8, 2009, federal indictment.

Murray was employed at the IRS facility at 333 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, Mo., where her duties included mail processing. Murray admitted that she rifled through misdirected and/or misdelivered mail, and then removed and stole cash and gift cards from the mail. Murray admitted that she stole mail on each of the five different dates between Feb. 9 and April 9, 2009, specified in each separate count of the indictment.

As a batch of incoming mail is sorted for delivery to various individuals at the Pershing Road facility, some mail is identified as misdirected or misdelivered mail and is placed in a mail bucket so it can be returned to the Postal Service for delivery to the intended addressee. Based on reports that misdelivered mail was being opened rather than being returned to the Postal Service, a hidden video surveillance camera was installed in the administrative mail room. The video taken by the hidden surveillance camera confirmed that Murray rifled through the misdelivered mail, opened it, and took contents from the mail.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Porter. It was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Former Walpole police sergeant acquitted on tax fraud charges.

Source- http://www.wickedlocal.com/walpole/news/x1312012847/Former-Walpole-police-sergeant-acquitted-on-tax-fraud-charges

A former Walpole police sergeant was acquitted of four counts of tax fraud Monday in Boston Federal Court.

Steven Kenney, 60, of Bennett Street in Wrentham was indicted by the United States Attorney’s Office out of the Massachusetts district and the Internal Revenue Service on three charges of filing false tax returns and one count of failure to report taxable income.

Kenney was a long-time member of the Walpole police force, serving for over three decades until being put on leave following the indictment handed down in late Aug. 2008.

Prosecutors alleged Kenney, from 2003 to 2005, neglected to report rental income from a property he and his spouse owned on Madison Street in Wrentham, as well as $262,000 in gains from the 2005 sale of the property.

“Their credibility was attacked by my attorney,” Kenney said, calling the charges “trumped up.”
He said he originally tried to sell the Madison Street home in 1998 but couldn’t because of a septic problem, so he rented it out instead.

The IRS raided the home in 2004, according to Kenney, because one of his female renters was, unbeknownst to him, part of a “fringe radical group” that refused to pay taxes.

Kenney believes the IRS may have wrongly connected him and the renter.
“I had nothing to do with them or even know her,” he said.

Kenney said he didn’t report rental income for 2003, 2004, and 2005 because he was losing money on the property, thus not making an income.
The former officer said he evicted the renters immediately after the raid and put the house on the market in 2005.

After the sale, Kenney said he fell under a capital gains exemption that the IRS didn’t recognize.
The IRS confronted Kenney about the discrepancies in 2008. Kenney said he told them to let him know how much he owed so he could develop a payment plan, but the agency never got back to him.

“Next thing I know I was indicted and arraigned in federal court,” he said.
Kenney was appointed a public defender due to his inability to afford a private attorney.
“I believed in the jury,” Kenney said, adding it was a “forgone conclusion” that he would be acquitted.

When his indictment was handed down last year, Kenney said he was given the option of resigning from the Walpole Police Department or being fired.

“After 31 years (on the force),” he said, “I didn’t want to be fired.”
Kenney did note he was “in the process of retirement” at the time of his resignation.

The former officer is on retirement disability payment from the Norfolk County retirement system because of knee replacement surgery from injuries suffered in the Vietnam War. He said his knee was aggravated after a long period of police labor and it had become clear to him he could no longer work because of the nagging injury.

IRS representatives did not return calls seeking comment on the case.

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Local liquor store owner sentenced to 2 years.

Source- http://badgerherald.com/news/2009/11/01/local_liquor_store_o.php

The co-owner of Riley’s Wines of the World and several other downtown businesses was sentenced Friday to two years in prison, one year supervised release and a $30,000 fine for filing a false 2005 income tax return.

According to federal court documents, Hyungirl Lee under-reported his income on his 2005 income tax return. Lee has paid back the nearly $200,000 he owed in tax loss.

In 2002, Lee was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a $71,000 fine for filing a false 1995 income tax return. United States District Judge Barbara Crabb, who also presided over Lee’s 2002 sentencing, said she was “appalled” to see Lee in her courtroom so soon after his first conviction.

Lee and his wife Jongyean Lee pled guilty in August to charges of income tax fraud. Jongyean Lee was sentenced Oct. 13 to one year in prison and a $30,000 fine for submitting a false document to an IRS agent.

In order to maintain their businesses, which include Badger Liquor, Churchkey Pub & Grill and Vineyard Liquor, the Lees requested in their plea agreement their prison terms be staggered, with Jongyean Lee’s sentence beginning after her husband is released. Hyungirl Lee will begin his sentence Nov. 30.

After Hyungirl Lee’s first conviction, all alcohol licenses for the Lees’ businesses were transferred to Jongyean Lee’s name, Alcohol License Review Committee member Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said.

As far as restrictions on the Lees’ liquor licenses, Assistant City Attorney Steve Brist said the offense must “substantially relate” to the licenses, a determination that would be made by the ALRC.

Verveer said he does not anticipate the issue of the Lees’ licenses coming before the ALRC soon. Jongyean Lee’s status as the agent of the licenses may be threatened, however, when she reports to prison, Verveer said.

“Based on what I know, I don’t see an issue with their licenses at this point, but two years down the road there are absolutely going to be questions and issues raised,” Verveer said

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Northern Virginia Accountant, Lawyer Indicted in IRS Fraud.

Source- http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1009/671202.html

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors say an accountant and a lawyer from Virginia have been indicted for allegedly plotting to defraud the IRS. Daryl Haynor, who worked at an accounting firm in Tysons Corner and John Flask with a Vienna law firm, were indicted on Thursday. Michael Parker, CEO of TransCapital Corp. in northern Virginia, was charged Thursday in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to defraud the IRS. In a plea agreement filed on Thursday, Parker has agreed to plead guilty.

Prosecutors say Haynor, Flask and Parker marketed a tax shelter that enabled U.S. corporations to claim tax deductions totaling more than $240 million on corporate income tax returns. The indictment says the three made false and misleading statements to IRS agents and attorneys during audits.

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Mechanicsburg man accused of $6 million tax fraud.

Source- http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2009/10/27/news/local/doc4ae74af3e9bac151154607.txt

The owner of a Camp Hill-based business pleaded guilty today to failing to pay the IRS approximately $6 million in payroll taxes, according to United States Middle District of Pennsylvania Attorney Dennis Pfannenschmidt.

Pfannenschmidt said Stephen H. Ritter, 38, of Mechanicsburg, was president and owner of Kandersteg Inc., which handled pickups and deliveries for DHL Worldwide Express here and in several other states between 2000 and 2008, employing up to 325 people until it went bankrupt in early 2008.

Federal law requires employers to collect and withhold federal income taxes, medicare and social security taxes from their employees paychecks. Pfannenschmidt said Ritter admitted that he used the funds for operating expenses of the company rather than remitting them to the IRS.

Ritter faces up to five years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 and full restitution of the tax liability due the IRS, Pfannenschmidt said.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Judge sentences Edward Fisher to 41 months in prison in tax fraud case.

Source- http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20091022/FREE/910229981#

The former general counsel of former professional employment organization Simplified Employment Services Inc. will serve 41 months in federal prison and pay restitution up to $10 million for tax fraud, a federal judge ordered today.

Edward Fisher, 56, of Shelby Township received that sentence Thursday before U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland, for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service of more than $51 million in income tax for SES employees in 1997-2001.

Fisher was also an associate general counsel for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan from 2001 until his 2006 indictment in the SES case along with company vice president Brian Lambka.

Lambka was sentenced in August 2008 to serve 18 months in prison followed by federal probation and restitution, after a plea deal with federal prosecutors earlier that year.

Fisher went to trial and was convicted by a jury in July 2008.

As a professional employment organization, Auburn Hills-based SES leased staff and human resources to local companies but handled its own payroll functions and was supposed to pay employment taxes to the IRS.

Court records allege the company began filing false and understated tax returns in 1997 and Fisher became aware of the situation in 1999.

Federal prosecutors contend that Fisher concealed the tax deficiencies in part by falsely blaming any tax deficiencies on computer software problems as opposed to deliberate fraud.

“In this case, the crime was committed by an attorney who should have helped his client steer clear of criminal activity, not commit fraud more effectively.” United States Attorney Terrence Berg said in a statement.

Defense attorney Harold Gurewitz of Detroit-based Gurewitz & Raben plc said Thursday his client will appeal the conviction and sentence.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Silver Spring Man Gets More Than 5 Years in Tax Fraud.

Source-http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/14/AR2009101401701.html

A Silver Spring man was sentenced to 70 months in prison Tuesday for preparing and filing false tax returns as part of a scheme to generate fraudulent tax refunds for clients, the U.S. Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service said.

Marcel J. Toto-Ngosso, 50, was convicted of 17 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of false tax returns in June in a federal court in Greenbelt.

According to evidence introduced at trial, Toto-Ngosso obtained the names and social security numbers of individuals, which he later sold to his clients for $500 to $800 each. Toto-Ngosso then used the names and social security numbers on his clients' tax returns to secure larger refunds by claiming fraudulent deductions and income adjustments, prosecutors said.

His offenses, prosecutors said, took place over nine years through 2007 from a business based at his home.

A federal judge also ordered Toto-Ngosso to pay $238,788.25 in restitution.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Rapper Nas Hit With 2.5 Million Tax Lien By IRS!

Rapper Nas

Source-http://www.hiphoprx.com/2009/10/19/rapper-nas-hit-with-25-million-tax-lien-by-irs/

The ‘Hip Hop Is Dead’ rapper Nas, has reportedly been hit dead with a federal tax lien of $2.5 million for his 2006 and 2007 taxes.

According to TMZ, the rapper owes approximately $2,584,206.31 to the government after failing to pay his taxes owed on his reported income for the years 2006 and 2007.

Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) isn’t the only ones having dibs on money from Nas born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones as his ex-wife singer Kelis recently has been battling in court over spousal support and their new born son Knight.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Man, wife sentenced for conspiring to defraud IRS.

Source-http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/crime/story/977627.html

An Anchorage couple has been sentenced on their convictions of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service over 15 years in what a federal judge called "disgusting behavior," according to the U.S. attorney. Prosecutors said Eugene Warner, 66, and his wife Lorna Warner, 67, for years tried to evade paying their debts, hid their assets from their creditors and prevented creditors from collecting.

They then failed to disclose those assets to the IRS, omitting in tax returns property and bank accounts they owned, prosecutors said. They also at one point falsely claimed the IRS owed them $1.5 million, prosecutors said.

At their sentencing, Chief U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline expressed disbelief that the defendants, former public school teachers, would exhibit such "bizarre and disgusting behavior" for so long.

He sentenced Eugene Warner to 37 months in prison and fined him $15,000. Lorna Warner was sentenced to five years of probation, including 10 months of home confinement, and fined $8,000.

They were also ordered to file accurate returns from 1991 through the present and to pay back their debts.

Both have previous convictions in 1997 of obstructing the IRS for which they were sentenced to 18 months in prison.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

IRS Employee Indicted in Bribery Case.

Source-http://www.webcpa.com/news/IRS-Employee-Indicted-Bribery-Case-52041-1.html

An Internal Revenue Service employee was arrested at the IRS offices in Dallas after a grand jury indicted him on a felony bribery charge.

The indictment charges Fernando Hernandez, 33, with one count of receiving a bribe as a public official, and aiding and abetting. In June 2005, Hernandez allegedly sought and accepted $2,000 in cash from a taxpayer in return for promising that no IRS representative would audit the taxpayer’s return.

If convicted, Hernandez faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Maryland Cardiologist Convicted of Evading more Than $16 Million in Income Taxes.

Source-http://media-newswire.com/release_1102307.html

Media-Newswire.com) - GREENBELT, MD—A federal jury today convicted Pradeep Srivastava, age 50, of Potomac, Maryland, a cardiologist who maintained offices in Greenbelt and Oxon Hill, of evading more than $16 million dollars in income taxes for the 1998 and 1999 tax years, and filing a false tax return for 2000, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Acting Assistant Attorney General John DiCicco of the Department of Justice Tax Division.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, “Anyone who thinks it is safe to evade taxes should think again, because the IRS and the Department of Justice are working to find tax cheats and send them to federal prison.”

“We should not forget that the ultimate victim of tax fraud is the honest taxpayer and the numerous programs funded by the government,” stated C. André Martin, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge. “While taxpayers have the right to contest their tax liabilities in the courts, taxpayers do not have the right to violate tax laws.”

According to evidence presented at the six day trial, Srivastava conducted a huge volume of trading in stocks and stock options. During the “bull market” of the late 1990s, the evidence showed that he earned more than $40 million in short-term capital gains, much of them from trading in stock options involving high-technology stocks such as America Online, Dell Computer, Yahoo, Qualcomm and Inktomi. In preparation for filing his tax returns for 1998 and 1999, Srivastava provided his accountant with information about those trades that generated capital losses, but omitted providing information relating to the vast majority of his short-term capital gains. Srivastava then filed tax returns which omitted those capital gains and, according to trial testimony, understated his tax due by $164,756 in 1998 and $16,179,567 in 1999.

The evidence proved that in 2000, the value of Srivastava’s portfolio collapsed and he incurred massive capital losses. Disclosure of the full extent of those losses, however, would have potentially alerted the Internal Revenue Service to his massive, undisclosed short-term capital gains for 1998 and 1999, therefore, trial testimony showed that Srivastava filed a false tax return which understated his capital losses for 2000.

Srivastava faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine for each of two counts of tax evasion and a maximum sentence is three years in prison, and a $250,000 fine for filing a false income tax return. U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus has scheduled sentencing for January 11, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. and placed Srivastava on home detention pending sentencing. Judge Titus also ordered Srivastava to pledge two parcels of real estate in Potomac, Maryland as security for his appearance.

In a related investigation, in August 2007, Srivastava agreed to pay the United States $476,000 to settle claims that he fraudulently billed Medicare and the Federal Health Employees Health Benefits Program ( “FEHBP” ) over a three and a half year period. According to the settlement agreement, the government contended that Srivastava committed multiple billing abuses from November 1, 1999 to May 31, 2003, including billing for services not rendered; “unbundling,” a practice where a provider bills for multiple component parts of a procedure as opposed to billing one comprehensive CPT code; and upcoding, or billing for a service at a higher level than that which was furnished. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas F. Corcoran, handled the case.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Personnel Management - Office of Inspector General for their investigative work in this case. Mr. Rosenstein and Mr. DiCicco thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart A. Berman and Trial Attorney John E. Sullivan, of the Department of Justice Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Strip Club Owner Faces 3 Years in Prison Over Tax Fraud.

Source-http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,563942,00.html

SALISBURY, Mass — The owner of a Salisbury strip club who pleaded guilty to not paying all of his income taxes faces up to three years in prison when he is sentenced this week.

Federal prosecutors say 54-year-old Kevin Moury charged dancers a $35 fee to perform at his Kittens night. He also fined them for showing up late or leaving early.

Authorities say he deposited that money in an account and did not include the income on tax returns filed from 2004 to 2007. Prosecutors say he owed the Internal Revenue Service nearly $88,000.

Moury is scheduled to sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston on four counts of filing false tax returns. In addition to the prison time, he also faces fines of up to $250,000 on each count.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Justice Department Sues to Bar Kansas Man from Preparing Tax Returns.

Source-http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/justice-department-sues-to-bar-kansas-man-from-preparing-tax-returns-63851092.html

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States has asked a federal court in Kansas City, Kan., to bar Carlos Cruz, aka Carlos Ruano-Cruz, from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. According to the government complaint, Cruz's business, Carlos Income Tax Services, prepares federal income tax returns for customers in the Kansas City metropolitan area that unlawfully understate income tax liabilities by under-reporting income, inflating business expenses and claiming improper deductions for nondeductible personal expenses.

The government complaint accuses Cruz of providing false advice regarding the deductibility of personal and business expenses, and unlawfully advising customers to fabricate business income in order to maximize tax refunds. According to the complaint, the Internal Revenue Service has audited at least 81 returns prepared by Cruz and found that 95 percent of those examined required adjustments to the federal income taxes owed. The complaint estimates that the tax losses from Cruz's alleged misconduct between 2003 and 2007 could exceed $25 million.

In the past decade, the Justice Department has obtained injunctions against more than 425 tax preparers and tax fraud promoters.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Rialto tax preparers ordered to pay $14 million in fraud case.

Source-http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_13497792

Two daughters of a convicted Rialto tax preparer were each sentenced Monday to six years in federal prison and ordered to pay $14 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service after they pleaded guilty to charges in a tax fraud case.

Karen Denise Berry, of San Bernardino, and Carla Denine Berry, of Rialto, were sentenced before Judge Stephen G. Larson in U.S. District Court, in Riverside, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the IRS. After serving the sentence, the defendants will be on three years supervised release.

The Berrys pleaded guilty before trial to various charges, including conspiracy to defraud the IRS, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, and susbscribing to a false tax return.

Karen Berry and Carla Berry, along with their father Matthew Carl Berry, reportedly conspired with Ivan Taylor Johnson, of San Bernardino, and Valerie Madel Dixon, of Rialto, to impede and obstruct the lawful functions of the IRS, the tax agency said.

Matthew Berry, a tax return preparer in Rialto, was convicted at trial and earlier sentenced to nine years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release and more than $15 million in restitution to the IRS. He was found guilty of conspiring with others to defraud the IRS and filing false personal tax returns for 2001, 2002 and 2004.

"IRS-Criminal Investigation will continue to aggressively investigate tax return preparers who knowingly prepare false tax.

returns," said Leslie P. DeMarco, special agent in charge. "These dishonest preparers undermine the integrity of our tax system and must be held accountable.

"The collective twenty-one year prison sentence for the Berry family serves as a reminder to all tax return preparers who intentionally prepare fraudulent tax returns; their disregard for our tax system can lead them to prison," DeMarco said.

The false returns prepared for clients by Matthew Berry, with the returns prepared by the four other co-defendants caused losses of more than $45 million in tax revenue to the IRS, according to court papers.

Matthew Berry operated the tax business out of his Rialto residence from 1995 to 2003, the IRS reported. Beginning in early 2000, his daughters, Karen and Carla Berry, started preparing false income tax returns at the business.

In 2002, Johnson and Dixon began preparing false income tax returns at the business as well, according to the IRS. In 2004, the business relocated to a Rialto commercial building, and Matthew Berry and his daughters formed N.C.K. Services, Inc. to operate it.

Matthew Berry controlled the cash paid by the tax preparation businesses clients, according to the plea agreements of the Berry sisters. He typically paid each return preparer weekly, in cash, based upon the number of returns the preparer had prepared during the preceding week. Matthew Berry further deposited large amounts of cash received from the business' clients into bank accounts in a manner to avoid arousing the suspicions of bank employees.

Matthew, Karen and Carla Berry, along with their co-conspirators also purchased cashier's checks using the profits earned form their fraudulent tax preparation business in their own names and the names of third-parties, depositing those checks into bank accounts which they controlled, reported the IRS.

Johnson and Dixon previously pleaded guilty to charges contained in the indictment. Johnson was sentenced to almost three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $19,034,901 in restitution to the IRS.

Dixon received five years probation, including 10 months home detention, and ordered to pay restitution to the IRS of $19,034,901.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Tucson Man Sentenced for Mail and Tax Fraud.

Source- http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/122035

TUCSON, AZ—David R. Holst, 44, of Tucson, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins to 18 months in prison for mail fraud and filing a false income tax return. A hearing regarding restitution will be held on January 5, 2010.

On March 13, 2009, Holst pleaded guilty to violations of Mail Fraud and Subscribing and Filing a False Income Tax Return. In May 2007, while a securities broker in Tucson, Holst began a financial advisory company known as DRH. Holst solicited clients to invest in mutual funds through DRH. However,Holstgambled the money intended for investment in the mutual funds. Investment payments were not forwarded to mutual fund companies, and clients were defrauded of approximately $353,000. Holst created fictitious account statements for the clients, making it appear that monies were sent to the mutual funds thus hiding the fraud.

Holst also failed to report the illegal income on his 2006 and 2007 individual income tax returns. In addition to the prison sentence, Holst was ordered to rectify his tax situation with the Internal Revenue Service.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. The prosecution was handled by Danny N. Roetzel, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Munish Sharda, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Reinhard sentenced to 51 months in prison.

Source-http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/10/reinhard-sentenced-to-51-months-in-prison.html

Don Reinhard, a former Florida State Seminole Boosters president and investor, was sentenced to 51 months in prison this afternoon in Tallahassee after pleading guilty earlier this year to federal tax fraud and other criminal charges. It was the maximum sentence allowed under federal guidelines.

Reinhard was accused of falsifying a tax return and hiding assets in a bankruptcy that followed the 2003 collapse of an investment scheme that snared some of the most prominent players in the state capital, costing them millions.

The most serious of the seven charges involved the purchase of a 36-foot Contender boat from Central Marine Service in St. Petersburg.
In seeking a loan, Reinhard submitted a 2001 income tax return that listed his income as more than $944,000, according to federal prosecutors. The return on file with the Internal Revenue Service listed his adjusted gross income as $389,000.

Reinhard had also pleaded guilty to three counts of bankruptcy fraud for not disclosing assets, including a glass gondola sculpture he sold amid the bankruptcy for $24,000 and the sale of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He also pleaded guilty to making false statements.

Reinhard filed for bankruptcy after the SEC, state regulators and a number of former investors accused him of defrauding investors who trusted him with millions of dollars.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Former teacher sentenced for tax fraud.

Source- http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/othercities/southflorida/stories/2009/09/28/daily31.html

A former Palm Beach County teacher was sentenced Tuesday to one year and one day behind bars, to be followed by a year of supervised release, after pleading guilty to preparing false income tax returns.

Between 2002 and 2005, Georgia Gaines, 47, of Lake Worth, prepared tax returns for herself and on behalf of others, for which she was charged with inflating deductions or, in some cases, large business losses, according to a news release from the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

She pleaded guilty in June.

Gaines’ tax fraud scheme resulted in fraudulent deductions or business loss claims of more than $1.1 million on the returns she prepared for others. And, on her own tax returns, Gaines failed to report income totaling more than $200,000, which she earned between 2002 and 2006 by preparing tax returns for others, according to the indictment and court statements.

Gaines was ordered to begin serving her prison sentence by Dec. 4.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Man pleads guilty for hiding UBS account.

Source- http://money.uk.msn.com/investing/news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=149917840

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A New Jersey man pleaded guilty on Friday to failing to report about $6.1 million (3.8 million pounds) he had held in a UBS Swiss bank account, the Justice Department said, the latest plea in the U.S. crackdown on tax fraud.

Juergen Homann agreed to plead guilty to failing to report his UBS account on his U.S. income tax return as well as the income he received from the account, according to the Justice Department.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Floyd Mayweather agrees to pay $5.6 million tax bill.

Floyd Maywather Jr.

Source- http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-newswire23-2009sep23,0,3944749.story

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. agreed to pay $5.6 million in back taxes before the Internal Revenue Service was poised to take the money from his purse after his Saturday comeback fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.

The IRS sent the Nevada Athletic Commission a levy notice on Sept. 4 ordering Mayweather's unpaid taxes from 2007 to be deducted from his $10-million fight purse, commission executive director Keith Kizer told the Associated Press.

Kizer said the IRS backed off one week later, after Mayweather agreed to pay the money. Mayweather won the fight in a unanimous decision.

Mayweather's tax attorney, Jeffrey Morse, told the AP on Tuesday that federal officials never intended to take Mayweather's purse, and the five-division champion has satisfied all his IRS debts.

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Victory Outreach pastor guilty of tax fraud.

Source- http://www.examiner.com/x-19696-Columbia-County-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m9d18-Victory-Outreach-pastor-guilty-of-tax-fraud

The pastor of a Portland church with ties to St. Helens pled guilty to aiding the preparation of a false tax return, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Victory Outreach Church purchased the former Assembly of God Church in St. Helens, across from a local elementary school and in 2006, St. Helens residents joined together to protest a request to locate a 50-bed residential treatment center run by Pastor Max Garza and Victory Outreach Church.

Now, Garza is in the news again, this time for his involvement in a tax evasion scheme.

In a plea hearing held Sept. 15, Garza admitted that he provided false expense invoices, which purported to reflect public relations and other services provided by Victory Outreach Church to an individual named William Thompson, who was then operating a mail order divorce service business using the name Hallwood, Inc.

According to a press release by the Department of Justice, Thompson was able to use the false invoices to take expense deductions on tax returns filed by Hallwood, Inc., to fraudulently reduce his tax liability.

To create a paper trail for the false transactions,Thompson would give checks to Garza, who would deposit the checks into accounts set up for this purpose. Those checks were supposedly for payment for public relations and other services reflected on the invoices. Garza would then retain between five and 10 percent of the gross amount of the checks and return the balance to Thompson, usually in cash, sometimes money order.

Between 2001 and 2003, Garza provided invoices reflecting a total of $735,441 in false business expenses which Thompson claimed on Hallwood, Inc. corporate tax returns. The false documents enabled Thompson, operating as Hallwood, Inc., to evade an estimated $220,345 in federal taxes. Garza also helped disguise the purchase of a Jaguar automobile using Thompson’s money, deposited into one of the special Victory Outreach Church accounts.

According to the Department of Justice, Garza arranged for the special church account statements to be mailed to his residence rather than to the church business office where other church account statements were sent. He also concealed the existence of the special accounts and the invoice activity from an accountant who was hired to complete an annual review of church financial activity and records. In response to questions from a state Charitable Activities Section investigator, Garza denied knowing Thompson and claimed that the church had actually performed services for Hallwood, Inc.

Investigation indicates that neither Victory Outreach Church nor its Board of Directors were aware of the false invoice arrangement between Garza and Thompson until after the fact.

Thompson pled guilty to tax evasion and was sentenced to a prison term of one year and one day, in 2007.

Garza will be sentenced Jan. 11, 2010, at 10 a.m. He faces up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Caldwell is acting as prosecutor.

In 2006, Victory Outreach Church purchased the former Assembly of God Church on Columbia Boulevard in St. Helens for the 50-bed residential treatment center for individuals in recovery from drug and alcohol problems. Residents’ objected to the location of the facility, directly across from Lewis and Clark Elementary School and voiced concerns about community safety.

The St. Helens Planning Commission ultimately denied the application, citing unmet requirements for parking, landscaping and screening surrounding the property.

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Mortgage company owner sentenced in fraud scheme.

Source- http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/othercities/southflorida/stories/2009/09/14/daily66.html

The onetime owner of a mortgage company was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison and ordered to pay $118,091 in restitution for her role in a tax fraud scheme.

A federal court jury convited Maritza Valiente, 41, of Miami-Dade County, on charges stemming from a tax fraud scheme that she and others allegedly committed in 1999 and 2000.

They originally were indicted in 2004, but Valiente was not found until 2008, according to a news release from the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Valiente and her co-conspirators created and filed more than 30 false tax returns claiming wages in the names of bogus employees of her company, United Mortgage Financing, according to evidence presented during the trial.

The IRS paid out more than $100,000 refunds.

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

IRS Employee Indicted for Stealing Mail.

Source-http://www.webcpa.com/news/IRS-Employee-Indicted-Stealing-Mail-51715-1.html

An IRS employee has been indicted by a federal grand jury for stealing mail that had been delivered to an IRS service facility.

Latrice Antionette Murray, 38, was charged in a five-count indictment on Sept. 8 that was unsealed and made public when Murray was arrested Tuesday morning and made her initial court appearance. Murray’s duties at the IRS facility in Kansas City, Mo., included mail processing.

When a batch of incoming mail is sorted for delivery at the facility, any of the mail that has been identified as misdirected or misdelivered is placed in a mail bucket so it can be returned to the post office for delivery to the intended addressee.

Based on reports that misdelivered mail was being opened rather than being returned to the Postal Service, a hidden video surveillance camera was installed in the administrative mail room.

According to the indictment, the surveillance video showed Murray rifling through the misdelivered mail, opening some of it, and removing the contents. The indictment charges Murray with five counts of stealing mail between Feb. 9 and April 9, 2009.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Porter and was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Silver Spring woman pleads guilty to tax fraud.

Source- http://www.gazette.net/stories/09152009/montnew83011_32546.shtml

Beauty store supply investor failed to report almost $1 million in income, prosecutors say.

A Silver Spring woman faces up to three years in prison for filing a false tax return that hid more than $200,000 from the government, according to a press release from the United States

Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.

Nancy Okiebisu, 45, pled guilty Sept. 11 in U.S. District Court to tax fraud relating to a chain of Maryland beauty supply stores, according to the release.

Her defense attorney, Baltimore-based Caroline Delisle Ciraolo, did not return phone calls Monday for comment.

According to the plea agreement, Okiebisu owned a 50 percent interest in Beauty Lane Silver Spring LLC, which operated four retail beauty supply stores across the state. From 2005 to 2006, Okiebisu's personal bank accounts filled up with more than $1 million in cash relating to the business, but she failed to include $522,339 of income on her 2005 federal tax return and $390,587 on her 2006 tax return, according to the plea agreement.

As a result, the federal government lost $255,619 in tax returns for both years, according to the press release.

In addition to her potential prison sentence, Okiebisu faces a $100,000 fine. The government also seized $123,232 in a related civil forfeiture action from a bank account controlled by her, a seizure she agreed not to protest in her plea agreement, according to the release.

She is set to be sentenced Dec. 4 in U.S. District Court.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Man sentenced in Va visa fraud scheme

Source- http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/ap/58990152.html

NORFOLK, VA. — An Armenian who was a principal in what the government calls a widespread visa fraud conspiracy in the Hampton Roads area has been sentenced to 78 months in prison.

Prosecutors said Thursday 35-year-old Vahe Harutyunyan was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Norfolk after pleading guilty to visa and tax fraud and money laundering.

According to prosecutors, Harutyunyan and his coconspirators were involved in an enterprise that fraudulently obtained foreign labor visas and cheated the government out of $6.8 million in payroll taxes. The conspiracy dated to March 2001.

Harutyunyan was the second boss involved in the enterprise to be sentenced to prison.

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Dallas man gets 40 months in tax fraud case.

Source- http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2009/sep/02/bc-tx-tax-fraud/?news&region-state

DALLAS (AP) — An investment adviser convicted in a tax fraud case in which he claimed to be a "child of God" with citizenship in heaven, not the U.S., is going to prison.

A federal judge in Dallas on Wednesday sentenced Lanas Evans Troxler of Dallas to 40 months in prison. Troxler must surrender by Sept. 30.

A jury in April 2008 convicted Troxler, formerly of Lubbock, on 17 counts related to sham offshore entities.

Prosecutors say Troxler did business in Dallas from 1998 through 2002.

Troxler was convicted of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede administration of IRS laws, four counts of attempting to evade and defeat taxes and 12 counts of assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent tax returns.

Troxler also must pay a $10,000 fine.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Ann Arbor businessman pleads guilty to obstructing IRS

Source- http://www.examiner.com/x-14309-Detroit-Legal-News-Examiner~y2009m9d4-Ann-Arbor-businessman-pleads-guilty-to-obstructing-IRS

United States Attorney Terrence Berg, joined by IRS Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent in Charge Maurice Aouate, announced that Ann Arbor businessman Anthony Lavigne, 43, pleaded guilty Wednesday to engaging in a fraudulent offer in compromise scheme, attempting to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service.

“This case is another example of my office's commitment to aggressively prosecute tax fraud. I commend the vigilance of the IRS in detecting this type of crime. We will take all appropriate actions against those who fail to comply with the Internal Revenue Service." Berg said.

Aouate said, "Lying to the government in order to take advantage of a program designed to help taxpayers is a crime we cannot and will not tolerate.”

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Dyer man sentenced to two years for filing false tax returns in Aegis scheme

Source- http://www.chestertontribune.com/PoliceFireEmergency/9196%20dyer_man_sentenced_to_two_years.htm

A Dyer businessman has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of filing false tax returns in connection with a tax avoidance scheme which has already sent six to prison, including a Chesterton man, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Internal Revenue Service announced.

In June Donald Sikma, 57, pleaded guilty to one count of filing false tax returns for the 1998 tax year. According to tax records, Sikma sheltered millions of dollars of income using a tax avoidance scheme promoted by the now defunct Aegis Company.

As part of this scheme, Sikma transferred portions of his income to an offshore trust, then failed to report this income on his individual tax returns. Using the offshore Aegis trust and other sham trusts, Sikma fraudulently avoided paying at least $1.13 million in federal income taxes, according to court records.

Under a plea agreement, the DOJ said, Sikma has paid approximately $3.5 million in federal and state back taxes, including penalties and interest, and has agreed to cooperate with the IRS in continuing assessments.

The six principal promoters of the Aegis trust scheme--including Chesterton resident Timothy Dunn--were convicted of a tax fraud conspiracy and other tax crimes following a jury trial in May 2008 in Chicago. They were subsequently sentenced to terms ranging from 10 to 18 years. Dunn was sentenced to 210 months.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Doctor faces prison time for tax evasion.

Source- http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09241/994114-59.stm

A Westmoreland County physician who prosecutors say funneled millions of dollars to the Middle East to avoid paying taxes was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison yesterday.

Dr. Antoine Cawog, 64, of Greensburg, still faces charges in Westmoreland County of 24 counts of violating the state's controlled substance act, and 10 counts of criminal attempt to commit Medicaid fraud.

Dr. Cawog pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud and income tax evasion. In addition to his prison term, he must pay a $75,000 fine and serve three years supervised release.

He previously paid $2.2 million in restitution to cover his unpaid taxes, penalties and interest.
According to prosecutors, Dr. Cawog purposely moved millions of dollars out of the United States and into bank accounts in Lebanon to conceal his assets from the Internal Revenue Service.

Defense attorney Paul Boas told the judge that Dr. Cawog started out owing the IRS $400,000 in back taxes, and even though he was making payments on that amount, it was never enough.
As the penalties and interest continued to balloon, Mr. Boas said, and the IRS began seizing his assets, Dr. Cawog became frustrated and overwhelmed and tried to conceal his money.

"He's paid over $4 million on a $400,000 tax debt," Mr. Boas said. "I think my client thought he could never get out from under it."

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch told the judge that Dr. Cawog committed the act knowingly -- having been given a break on a previous federal tax conviction in 1991.

"The overriding fact here is from the beginning of the 1980s through March 2008, this particular defendant had the financial wherewithal to pay his taxes," she said. "The defendant made some seriously bad choices -- but mostly out of greed."

Dr. Cawog faced 37 to 41 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab sentenced him below the range after listening to testimony from two of the man's patients, as well as reading several letters of support submitted to him.

"Despite the wonderful things he's done for others and his family, he has engaged in a lengthy, elaborate deception on the United States, the IRS and the government," Judge Schwab said. "He chose not to meet his obligations despite having substantial means".

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

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Ex-IRS District Director Gets 2 Years for Tax Fraud

Source- http://www.webcpa.com/news/Ex-IRS-District-Director-Gets-2-Years-for-Tax-Fraud-51526-1.html

A former IRS district director who worked for a company that promised to reduce the tax liabilities of home-based business owners has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Jesse Ayala Cota, 68, pleaded guilty in April 2007 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS (see Former IRS District Director Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud). In his plea, he admitted advising taxpayers how to defraud the U.S. government.

During 33 years as an employee of the Internal Revenue Service, Cota worked as a revenue agent, audit-training coordinator, large-case examination manager, assistant service center director, assistant district director and district director. After retiring, he went to work in July 1999 for Renaissance, the Tax People Inc., a Topeka-based company that sold tax services to home-based businesses. Cota was accused of defrauding the U.S. government of more than $1.3 million and earning more than $300,000 while working for Renaissance.
Advertisement

Owners of home-based businesses who paid to become members of Renaissance received services including tax preparation, tax advice and so-called “audit protection.” The “Tax Advantage System” offered by Renaissance was based on claims that business owners could legally reduce the taxes they paid by converting their personal expenses into business deductions. Cota and other defendants assured Renaissance clients that the tax reduction methods were legal, even though the tax returns filed using Renaissance’s methods were based on providing fraudulent information to the IRS.

The IRS has been aggressively pursuing Renaissance and related cases. Cota’s co-defendants include Renaissance founder and president Michael Craig Cooper, who is set for sentencing Nov. 18, and vice president Todd Eugene Strand, who is set for sentencing Sept. 28. Thomas Steelman, another former long-time IRS employee, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison on Aug. 10, 2009. Several tax preparers associated with Renaissance have also been sentenced to prison or probation.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

US sentences ex-UBS banker to 40 months in prison.

Source- http://www.france24.com/en/20090821-us-sentences-ex-ubs-banker-40-months-prison

A US federal court on Friday sentenced a former American banker at Swiss banking giant UBS to three years and four months in prison for helping wealthy US clients evade taxes, the Justice Department said.

Bradley Birkenfeld pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States on June 19, 2008. The whistleblower's confession led to the US government's probe of a multimillion-dollar tax evasion case against UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank.

Birkenfeld, of Weymouth, Massachusetts, was sentenced by Judge William Zloch in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The sentencing came two days after UBS and the US and Swiss governments reached a landmark out-of-court settlement of a US civil tax fraud complaint.

According to court documents and statements made in court Friday, the Justice Department said, Birkenfeld worked as a private banker in Geneva for UBS.

While at UBS, Birkenfeld helped an American billionaire real estate developer avoid paying 7.2 million dollars in taxes by helping the developer conceal 200 million dollars of assets hidden offshore in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the department said.

Birkenfeld routinely traveled to and had contacts within the United States in an effort to help wealthy Americans hide their assets offshore to evade taxes.

"To those taxpayers who have illegally hidden their income in foreign bank accounts and to those who have illegally helped clients hide income and assets, today's sentencing serves as notice: come in and completely come clean," said John DiCicco, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department?s tax division.

DiCicco was referring to the government's temporary voluntary disclosure program, which expires on September 23.

Jeffrey Sloman, acting US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, warned tax evaders against complacency after the US government reached out-of-court settlements in civil and criminal tax-fraud cases against UBS>

"Those who have stashed money offshore should not take comfort in the fact that the UBS investigation seems to have reached criminal and civil resolutions," Sloman said.

"New leads and additional evidence are being uncovered each day. We are committed to pursuing these new leads and to developing additional cases against those who assist Americans evade their income tax obligations."

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

New Mexico Farmer Charged With Tax Fraud.

Source- http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1739494/new_mexico_farmer_charged_with_tax_fraud_fraudulently_collecting_farm/

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bill Melot, a resident of Hobbs, N.M., appeared in federal court today before Magistrate Karen B. Molzen in Las Cruces, N.M., on tax and false statement charges, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Melot, a farmer who owns approximately 250 acres in Lea County, N.M., was charged with tax evasion, failing to file tax returns, corruptly impeding the IRS, and making false statements to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

According to the indictment, Melot owes the IRS more than $18 million in federal taxes and has not filed a personal tax return since 1986. However, Melot has collected over $225,000 in federal farm subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

According to the indictment, Melot took a number of steps to conceal his ownership of the 250 acres in Lea County, including notarizing forged deeds and titling the property in the name of nominees. The indictment further alleges that Melot used false Social Security Numbers and fictitious Employer Identification Numbers to hide his assets from the IRS. The indictment further alleges that Melot provided fictitious Employer Identification Numbers to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to collect federal farm aid. Additionally, Melot maintained a bank account with Nordfinanz, a Swiss financial institution.

According to the indictment, Melot also intermittently owned and operated gas stations in Lea County and elsewhere in the United States, including two gas stations in Hobbs.
If convicted on all counts, Melot faces a maximum term of 49 years in prison and a maximum fine of $2,850,000.

The case is being prosecuted by Tax Division trial attorney Jed Silversmith. The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division.

*************************************
Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Malibu Man Agrees to Plead Guilty to Willful Failure to Disclose UBS Swiss Bank Accounts to the IRS.

Source- http://www.sys-con.com/node/1072439

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Malibu man was charged today with failing to inform the government of a Swiss bank account as part of a scheme to move at least $1 million from the United States into Swiss bank accounts with the goal of avoiding the payment of federal income taxes.

In a criminal information filed today in United States District Court, John McCarthy was charged with one count of willfully failing to file a Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts report (FBAR). In a related plea agreement also filed today, McCarthy agreed to plead guilty to the felony charge.

According to court documents, Switzerland's largest bank, UBS AG, turned over records showing that McCarthy was the beneficial owner and, therefore, had a direct financial interest in a UBS bank account opened in Switzerland in 2003 in the name of COGS Enterprises, Ltd., a Hong Kong entity. In court documents, McCarthy admitted skimming money from his domestic business and, after funneling the money through a U.S. account, wire transferring the skimmed funds into his COGS Enterprises account in Switzerland. McCarthy admitted that, with the assistance of UBS representatives and his Swiss lawyer, he directed the investment activities and transfers of funds into and out of the COGS UBS Swiss bank account, as well as from other UBS Swiss accounts he controlled. UBS representatives worked closely with his Swiss lawyer to keep McCarthy's funds from leaving Switzerland and helped McCarthy move additional monies out of the United States undetected by the federal government, according to the plea agreement.

McCarthy admitted that he transferred more than $1 million of money skimmed from his business to the COGS Enterprises account at UBS in Switzerland. As a result of the money transfers, McCarthy admitted that he failed to pay at least $200,000 in federal income taxes and that he now owes the government interest and penalties.

"Tax prosecutors in my office, working with IRS-Criminal Investigation agents and Department of Justice attorneys, are aggressively pursuing those who shirk their federal tax obligations by hiding funds in secret bank accounts in Europe and Asia," said United States Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien.

In his plea agreement, McCarthy agreed to cooperate with the United States Attorney's Office and the Internal Revenue Service, including agreeing to work with federal tax authorities to determine his personal and business tax liabilities for 2003 through 2007. McCarthy agreed that he is liable for the fraud penalty of 75 percent on any individual income taxes he owes for those years. In addition to the tax liability, McCarthy agreed to repatriate all funds held in foreign bank accounts and resolve his civil liability for failing to file FBARs for 2003 through 2008 by paying a penalty equal to 50 percent of the highest balance in his COGS account for each of the six years.

McCarthy is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court on September 14. Once he pleads guilty, McCarthy faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and fines totaling $250,000.

In February, UBS AG entered into a deferred prosecution agreement on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States by impeding the Internal Revenue Service (see: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-tax-136.html). As a result, UBS agreed to provide the United States government with the identities and account information of certain United States customers. McCarthy's Swiss bank account information was among the information provided by UBS to the Department of Justice. "The case against Mr. McCarthy is the latest victory in the Justice Department's crackdown on offshore tax evasion," said John DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Tax Division. "Americans with concealed offshore assets should voluntarily come clean with the IRS by September 23 and take advantage of the reduced penalties connected with the current offshore initiative. Failure to come forward and to disclose offshore assets exposes these Americans to increased penalties and possible criminal prosecution."

Eileen C. Mayer, Chief of IRS-Criminal Investigation, stated: "The prosecution of John McCarthy is the tip of the iceberg. In conjunction with the United States Attorney's Office here in Los Angeles and prosecutors around the country, our agents continue to investigate existing leads, as well as develop and follow-up on additional leads uncovered in the course of their investigations on others similarly situated. Today's actions show the IRS is committed to pursuing people hiding income offshore. Anyone in this situation needs to immediately come in through our voluntary disclosure process and get right with your government or face stiff criminal and financial penalties."

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Ex-IRS Agent Sentenced to 46 Months for Tax Fraud.

Source- http://www.webcpa.com/news/Ex-IRS-Agent-Sentenced-46-Months-Tax-Fraud-51330-1.html

A retired IRS agent who worked for a company that claimed to cut customers’ taxes has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for taking part in a tax fraud scheme.

Thomas W. Steelman, 72, of Blue Springs, Mo., was also ordered to pay more than $10.6 million in restitution to the IRS. Steelman worked for a now-defunct firm called Renaissance, the Tax People, in Topeka, Kan. He took part in promotional meetings, conferences, rallies and telephone conference calls to promote Renaissance’s services and recruit clients, according to prosecutors. Steelman was also a featured speaker on Renaissance’s promotional videotapes. He encouraged clients to claim excessively high Form W-4 exemptions, and when speaking to prospective clients, he falsely represented that numerous experts had reviewed the program and found no problems with it.

Prosecutors said that throughout 1998, 1999 and 2000, he prepared federal income tax returns fraudulently overstating clients’ losses and converting personal expenses into business deductions.

Steelman pleaded guilty in April 2002 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS and to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, and nine counts of preparing fraudulent federal income tax returns. In his plea, Steelman admitted he used the fact that he was a retired IRS agent to overcome objections and questions about the tax program Renaissance offered its clients.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Tax Preparer Swntenced to 30 Months in Federal Prison for Tax Fraud.

Source- http://lawfuel.com/show-release.asp?ID=22659

LawFuel.com - 07 August, 2009 - Orlando, Florida - U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton announces that U.S. District Chief Judge Anne C. Conway today sentenced Jean Marie Boursiquot (age 51, of Deltona, Florida) to two and a half years in federal prison for conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service out of tax revenue.

The court also ordered Boursiquot to pay $149,456.59 in restitution to the United States. Boursiquot had pleaded guilty on May 21, 2009.

According to court documents, Boursiquot ran his own tax preparation company and prepared tax returns and amended tax returns for transient Haitian immigrants in Florida. Boursiquot had the IRS mail him the refund checks directly and deposited the checks into his business account. In 2002, Boursiquot received nearly $400,000 from the IRS and pocketed more than $250,000 of the money that was intended for his clients. In 2003, Boursiquot received more than $500,000 from the IRS and kept more than $400,000 of his client's money. Boursiquot did not file a tax return for the 2002 tax year, and he only claimed $41,341.00 in income for the 2003 tax year. From 2002 to 2003, Boursiquot livedin a $700,000 home in the community of Windermere, Florida.

Before bringing criminal charges against Boursiquot, the United States d sought an injunction against Boursiquot to keep him from acting as a tax preparer. On August 8, 2006, the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida entered an order finding that Boursiquot had defrauded the United States and directed Boursiquot to pay theUnited States more than $850,000 for filing false tax claims on behalf of unwilling clients.

The Court concluded that Boursiquot had forged his clients' signatures on the tax returns that he prepared. The Court further directed that Boursiquot not act as a tax preparer.

Boursiquot's co-defendant, Marie Nerlande Thelemarque, is at large and has yet to be arrested by authorities. Any information about Thelemarque's whereabouts should be forwarded to the IRS Criminal Investigation Section. The indictment against Thelemarque is merely a formal charge that she has committed violations of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Bishop Ravenel.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

IRS wants $6,251,005.00 from Nicholas Cage.

Nicholas Cage

Source- http://www.examiner.com/x-16217-Albuquerque-Celebrity-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m8d2-IRS-wants-625100500-from-Nicolas-Cage

The IRS filed a $6,251,005.00 lien against Nicholas Cage on July 14. Public records show that the figure comes from alleged unpaid income taxes in 2007.

The address on the lien shows Cage's 10,000 square foot mansion in New Orleans which is now up for sale. As well as his $35 million Hollywood mansion which he is selling for a mere $17.5 million.

Back in April of 2009 the Huffington Post reported Cage was forced to sell his Bavarian Castle, Scholss Niedstien, due to the recession. Cage has not commented on the allegations.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

UBS Client Admits To Filing False Tax Return.

Source- http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200907281256dowjonesdjonline000531&title=ubs-client-admits-to-filing-false-tax-return

A UBS AG (UBS) client pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return, admitting he concealed more than $8 million in Swiss bank accounts opened in the name of a Hong Kong corporation.

UBS and the Internal Revenue Service are in a long-running fight over potential tax fraud. The IRS wants access to 52,000 client accounts, which could breach Swiss bank secrecy laws. The company has resisted the request, and some analysts expect UBS to pay a hefty settlement to resolve the matter before it goes to court and protect clients' identities.

The Justice Department said Tuesday that Jeffrey P. Chernick, who owns a corporation that represents toy manufacturers in China and Hong Kong, failed to report on his 2007 tax return he had an interest in or a signature authority over an account at UBS while also not reporting income from the account.

According to court documents, beginning in the mid-1970s, the Stanfordville, N.Y., man set up a Hong Kong corporation and opened offshore bank accounts in order to conceal from the IRS commissions paid to him for toy sales.

The Justice Department noted that in 2000, when UBS agreed to begin providing the IRS with certain information relating to accounts in which the beneficial owner was a U.S. citizen, one of Chernick's Swiss bankers left UBS for a smaller, less-known Swiss bank. "This banker told Chernick he had left UBS, in part, because the smaller bank would not be subject to Washington's scrutiny and could not be pressured by the U.S. government to disclose certain information to American authorities," said the Justice Department.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John DiCicco noted Americans have until Sept. 23 "to voluntarily come clean with the IRS and take advantage of" reduced penalties.

Chernick is slated to be sentenced Oct. 30 and faces up to three years in prison.

In February, UBS entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in which the bank admitted helping U.S. taxpayers hide accounts from the IRS. As part of the agreement, UBS provided the U.S. government with the identities of, and account information for, certain U.S. customers of UBS's cross-border business.

Two other UBS clients have since pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Miami tax preparer pleads guilty to fraud.

Source- http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2009/07/20/daily85.html

For the fifth time in as many weeks, a South Florida tax preparer has pleaded guilty to fraud.
Gary Bart Rosenfeld, 53, of Miami, operated Taxing Solutions between 2004 and 2007.

Rosenfeld is alleged to have filed fraudulent income tax returns for clients, in which he misrepresented wages, income and withholding amounts, and fabricated tuition payments, education credits and child care expenses, according to a news release from U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Total losses were $177,588.

It is also alleged that Rosenfeld filed tax returns for clients in which he directed that the money be refunded via anticipation loans on access device cards, without the taxpayer’s knowledge. A refund anticipation loan is money borrowed by a taxpayer from a lender based on the taxpayer’s anticipated income tax refund.

He is alleged to have provided clients with tax returns showing that the money would be deposited into their bank account, but then withdrew the refund-anticipation loan funds from automatic teller machines in Miami.

Rosenfeld is also alleged to have prepared and filed tax returns on behalf of others without their permission.

He faces up to three years in prison for aiding in the filing of a false tax return and up to two years, consecutive to any other sentence, for aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is set for Oct. 14.

In other recent tax fraud cases:

On June 19, a former Lake Worth teacher who had her own tax preparation business pleaded guilty to tax fraud.

On June 18, a 30-year-old Miami woman pleaded guilty to charges she submitted false tax returns for clients.

On June 16, a former St. Brendan’s Catholic Church parishioner was sentenced to a little more than three years in prison for filing false tax returns for parishioners who were clients.

On that same day, a Hialeah woman was charged in a 45-count indictment with allegedly helping to prepare false tax returns.

And on June 10, the owner of a Miami tax preparation business pleaded guilty to tax fraud.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Glouco man gets seven years for tax fraud.

Source- http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20090722_Glouco_man_gets_seven_years_for_tax_fraud.html

A Gloucester County tax preparer was sentenced by a federal judge yesterday to seven years in prison and ordered to pay $216,000 in restitution for filing false tax returns.

Neyembo Mikanda, 48, with addresses in Williamstown and Wilmington, was convicted last year on 26 counts, including the preparation of false income-tax returns for clients and corporate returns for his own companies.

U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman also ordered three years of supervision after Mikanda's prison release, and ordered him never to work in the tax-preparation field again.
"There's an old saying that you can steal more money with a pen than you can with a gun," Hillman told Mikanda. "You're a living embodiment of that."

The judge said he was concerned that Mikanda, who owned and operated Public Synergies Inc., a Williamstown tax-preparation firm, would commit similar frauds if given the opportunity. He said he hoped that Mikanda would spend his prison time thinking about the chaos he had caused others.

In an 11-day trial last July, a jury found that Mikanda defrauded the Internal Revenue Service by preparing fraudulent tax returns for clients. It also found that he received refunds totaling more than $250,000 by falsely claiming fuel-tax credits on his own corporate tax filings.

According to court documents, from September 2002 through April 2004, Mikanda prepared client returns that contained fabricated or inflated deductions, including those for charity gifts, job expenses, and mileage.

Numerous clients were audited and forced to pay interest, penalties, and additional tax. Mikanda kept a portion of their returns, sometimes receiving $2,500 for preparation, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Chillemi, who prosecuted Mikanda with Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Smith. Hillman ordered Mikanda to refund his clients the amount they paid in penalties and tax-prep fees.

Mikanda filed fraudulent corporate returns for Public Synergies from 1998 through 2003. False returns also were filed from 2000 through 2003 for two other companies in his name, New Jersey University College, Inc. and American Entrepreneurial Institute of Technology, Inc., according to court records.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Businessman sentenced to prison for tax fraud.

Source- http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2009/07/10/business/srv0000005808597.txt

DETROIT (AP) — A man who operated 80 Pizza Hut restaurants in the Detroit area has been sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for failing to send payroll taxes to the government.

Fifty-one-year-old La-Van Hawkins also was ordered Thursday by U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service and pay $5.7 million in restitution.

Hawkins had pleaded guilty in April to one count of a nine-count indictment. Investigators said $5.3 million was deducted from employees' checks for Social Security and Medicare but not given to the government, from 2001 to 2003.

Hawkins' sentence will run concurrently with one previously imposed for his role in a public-corruption case in Philadelphia.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Prominent attorney pleads to tax fraud.

Source- http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090707/NEWS/907070332/-1/News

PHILADELPHIA AP) — An eastern Pennsylvania lawyer who once had legal problems in the Poconos has pleaded guilty to failing to pay $1.9 million in taxes on $5 million in unreported income.

John P. Karoly Jr., of Allentown, had been scheduled to go on trial Monday in federal court in Philadelphia. Instead lawyers negotiated a last-minute plea that could send Karoly, 59, to prison for more than four years under federal sentencing guidelines.

Karoly also must repay an estimated $1.96 million in back taxes, plus interest and penalties, and could lose his law license. Defense lawyer Robert E. Goldman said his client admits filing false tax returns but may challenge the government's calculations before sentencing.

Karoly has won more than $10 million in settlements suing Lehigh Valley police departments over alleged civil rights violations. Part of his tax case involves a $7.9 million settlement he reached in the death of a 21-year-old drug suspect that Bethlehem police shot 11 times in a "no-knock" raid in 1997.

His law firm's books listed Karoly's fee for that case as $4.15 million, but he reported only $3.15 million to the Internal Revenue Service, a prosecutor said in court.
Karoly is known in the Poconos for representing Brodheadsville building contractor Dennis Slayton, who was charged with taking money from more than 20 new home buyers without performing the promised work. Slayton eventually pleaded no contest to reduced theft and drug possession charges and was sentenced to state prison.

Karoly was charged by the Monroe County District Attorney's Office in 2006 with conspiring with his client to help Slayton elude capture on a bail violation. Prosecutors said Karoly actively helped Slayton dodge a bench warrant for his arrest, hindered other efforts to capture him, and lied in a court document when Karoly stated he didn't know Slayton's whereabouts.

Slayton was captured in New Jersey five weeks after walking out of his 2005 preliminary hearing in Marshalls Creek and disappearing into nearby woods.

Prosecutors said Karoly abused his role as a defense attorney by issuing two checks, totaling $3,000, to Slayton while he was on the run. Both notations said the money was for real estate Karoly was buying from Slayton.

Karoly won dismissal of all charges from a magisterial district judge but the District Attorney's Office refiled them. Following a series of appeals, a county judge ruled in 2007 the charges could be heard by a magisterial district judge. He was subsequently convicted of contempt and, on April 23, 2008, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania referred the convictioni to the state disciplinary board for action.As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop charges that Karoly, his 28-year-old son John P. Karoly III, and a friend, 73-year-old pathologist John J. Shane, of Allentown, conspired to forge the wills of his wealthy brother and sister-in-law. Peter Karoly, also a lawyer, and his wife Lauren Angstadt died in a small plane crash in 2007.

Karoly has agreed to give up all claims to their estate, although his two sons have not. John P. Karoly III and Joshua Karoly, 26, both are lawyers at their father's firm.
Goldman calls the fight over the wills — which also is being waged in county court — a family dispute. And he blamed the tax errors in part on his client's frenzied schedule. They involve the tax years 2002, '04 and '05.

"He works seven days a week, 15 hours a day," Goldman said. "That's not an excuse, it's just a lesson for others to learn."

The plea agreement doesn't resolve charges that Karoly hid $500,000 in income by laundering it through several charities. A judge will conduct a non-jury hearing on that issue.
According to prosecutors, Karoly gave a community foundation $500,000, but then had the money steered to his church, which sent most of it back to him in the name of a private wilderness foundation he created.

"All of the money was used for Karoly's personal expenses. Not one penny went to charity," Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Weber said in court.

Karoly also took other fraudulent deductions, from $21,000 for cabinetry installed not at work but in his home kitchen to a $68,000 Lincoln Navigator he gave to secretary Heather Kovacs, prosecutors said.

Kovacs also is charged in the indictment for not reporting about $70,000 in income. Her lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom, said he hopes to "work something out" with prosecutors.
No dates have been set for the non-jury trial or Karoly's sentencing.

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Local accountant sentenced for tax fraud.

Source- http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2009/07/06/daily1.html

A former accountant with the City of San Antonio and owner of TaxMan4U, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for aiding, procuring, counseling and advising false income tax returns, according to John E. Murphy, acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas.

United States District Judge Orlando Garcia ordered Melvin Anthony Johnson to pay a $5,000 fine and be placed under supervised release for a period of one year after completing his prison term. At a sentencing hearing held July 2, Judge Garcia ordered that Johnson be taken into custody to begin serving his prison term.

Johnson pleaded guilty to the charge on March 18. He admitted that during the tax years 2001 through 2004 he knowingly assisted in the preparation of fraudulent individual income tax returns which contained false education credits. Johnson told clients he could get them larger refunds by finding “loop holes,” when in fact he was using bogus education credits to inflate his clients’ refunds. An IRS audit determined that the scheme resulted in a tax loss in excess of $200,000.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Orange County Man and Wife Convicted in $11 Million Elderly Ponzi Scheme.

Source-http://www.oc180news.com/article/West_Orange_County_Features/Crime/Orange_County_Man_and_Wife_Convicted_in_11_Million_Elderly_Ponzi_SchemeProposed_State_Budget_Savings_Could_Cause_Effective_Decriminalization/18535

As state lawmakers are considering a proposal which would reduce certain crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, an Orange County man was convicted this week of stealing the life savings of numerous unsuspecting seniors in a $11 million "Ponzi" scheme. Jeffrey Gordon Butler, 51, San Juan Capistrano, was found guilty by a jury of 693 felony counts for making untrue statements of material fact in the offer and sale of securities, the offer and sale of unqualified securities, theft from elderly persons, using a scheme to defraud in the sale of a security, and filing false tax returns.

"Sacramento lawmakers are currently considering reducing many felonies, including those for which the Butlers have been convicted, into misdemeanors. If they go through with this dangerous proposal, we may have to retroactively dismiss many of the counts," stated District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. "The California Legislature and the Governor are considering this foolish plan, which could decriminalize these types of fraud because these cases often require the use of search warrants and take years to investigate."

Reducing these crimes to misdemeanors automatically reduces the applicable statute of limitations for filing charges to one year from the date of the offense. This will make it even more difficult, if not impossible, to effectively investigate and successfully prosecute these offenses. Compounding this is the fact that, with few exceptions, search warrants may only be issued when there is evidence of a felony. Law enforcement will be unable to get authorization from a magistrate to search a suspect’s property and seize the elicit evidence. Search warrants are vital and extensively used in the investigation of fraud cases.

“In practice, by reducing crimes involving insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, automobile thefts and chop shops, foreign money laundering, sales of securities and tax fraud to misdemeanors, lawmakers will be decriminalizing and doing away with the prosecution of these crimes,” stated Rackauckas.

“The consequences of this will be unavoidable. Given the size and scope of large, complex fraud cases, and with no ability to search for and seize evidence, there is simply no reasonable expectation that such crimes could be discovered, investigated and prosecuted within a 1-year period. Conspiracies to commit fraud will be even more difficult to prove as the defining characteristic of such crimes is secrecy,” stated District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.
The defendant's wife, Peggy Warmath Butler, 49, San Juan Capistrano, was also convicted of four felony counts of filing false tax returns and excessive taking sentencing enhancements. Jeffrey Butler now faces a maximum sentence of over 300 years in state prison. Peggy Butler faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison. Sentencing for Jeffrey and Peggy Butler is scheduled for Sept. 18, 2009, in Department C-41, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.

A jury of 12 people and eight alternates was selected from a pool of 2,200 prospective jurors. The jury trial, which began Nov. 7, 2008, lasted almost eight months and included testimony from 92 victims, including 82 elderly victims, and video testimony from 49 victims, which was recorded prior to trial to ensure that the victim's testimony was preserved in the event that they were unavailable to testify at trial due to death or illness. At least six victims died during the course of the trial and 52 victims died prior to the case being brought before the jury.

Jeffrey Butler sold more than 300 promissory notes or stocks without obtaining a license for the notes from the California Department of Corporations, as required by law. The majority of the victims involved in this case were over 65 years old and unaware of the risks of their investments. Several of the victims lost their life savings and many died waiting for the jury trial.
Jeffrey Butler first met many of his victims while operating a company called Senior Information Services, which offered to assist senior citizens in the creation of living wills, trusts and other estate planning structures for a fee. Through this business, the defendant gained the trust of many of his clients, whom he later victimized. Between 1995 and 2004, in a series of businesses that changed forms and names, Jeffrey Butler failed to provide his investors with any documents or other information about his companies, how the companies made money, or any of the risks of investing in the companies as required by law to protect consumers and investors.

The defendant transferred investments between companies on several occasions without informing or providing only limited information to his elderly investors. The defendant immediately took 10 percent of the investors' money for himself without their knowledge or consent.

In 2000, Jeffrey Butler moved his clients' funds to his newest venture, Global Network Providers (Grenada), Inc. (GNPG), without the knowledge of the investors. The clients' money went to the development of a "telecommunications" company supposedly located on the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada. The company had very few assets and no income.

Jeffrey Butler convinced investors that GNPG paid 12 percent interest per year on promissory notes, when in fact the notes did not require payment for up to three years, and did not specify a time or method of payment. Investors were not made aware that these investments were not authorized to be sold in California. Some of the victims agreed to invest after being misled into believing that GNPG was an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) qualified investment, when in reality the investments were not IRA qualified. In an effort to fool his investors, Jeffrey Butler simply had "IRA" typed at the top of the promissory notes. He failed to inform many of the investors that the "telecommunications" company was based in Grenada.

Being that GNPG was on the island of Grenada in the Caribbean, the company was not subject to U.S. laws. Butler eventually ran out of funds to maintain his scheme and sent his victims a letter in which he continued to lie to investors, claiming that Hurricane Ivan had caused a delay in payments.

Peggy Butler worked with her husband, Jeffrey Butler, by maintaining the financial records for each of the Butlers' companies and accounting for the deposits and expenditures of investor funds. Between 2001 and 2004, the Butlers filed false tax returns and failed to report income of more than $5.5 million, resulting in an unpaid tax liability of more than $530,000.

The recommendation to reduce these crimes from felonies to misdemeanors was included in "Prison Population and Budget Reduction Proposals- June 2009" from the Schwarzenegger administration's California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The proposal states that the "budget reduction proposals have been developed in response to the state's fiscal crisis".
According to Susan Kang Schroeder, Public Affairs Counsel, Orange County District Attorney's Office, this proposal "would be literally letting people like Butler get away with it and it would virtually eliminate {these crimes} as even a prosecution".

*************************************

Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

http://www.irsrewards.com/.

11 Charged in Tax Fraud Scheme.

Source-http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/30/cbsnews_investigates/main5126124.shtml

Social Security Numbers Stolen To Recieve Fake Tax Refunds.

Eleven defendants involved in a plot to steal fraudulent federal and state tax refunds totaling $18 million were charged Tuesday in a federal indictment in Manhattan.

The federal prosecutor said the leaders of the scheme organized the plot through careful planning and execution, and obtained Electronic Filer Identification Numbers from the IRS, which allowed them to successfully access and file electronic tax refunds of several identities stolen from Puerto Rico.

Criminal Complaint

The defendants are accused of stealing Social Security numbers of numerous residents of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and filed fraudulent tax returns in their names. They also are charged with receiving refund checks from several loans issued by different banks, sent to the same stolen identities.

The defendants are also accused of renting fake residences in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in order to receive the falsified refund checks without being noticed.

The defendants allegedly concentrated on stealing the identities of Puerto Rican residents, because of their low risk of re-filing a legally submitted tax return. The residents of Puerto Rico usually do not file taxes with the IRS, since they are not required to do so, as long as all of their income originated in Puerto Rico.

Eight of the eleven people charged were arrested early this morning, while two, Viviana Castillo and Wendy Jimenez, still remain at large. Luis Hernandez 37, is already being held by authorities for an unrelated charge.

The indictment charged the defendants with three counts of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. They were also ordered to forfeit more than $19,000 in “real and personal” property to the US government.

The case will be prosecuted by the Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Levy of the US Attorney’s office Major Crime’s Unit. Lev L Dassin, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated that “the investigation is continuing.”

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Former Rockland tax accountant gets 15 months in federal prison.

Source- http://lohud.com/article/20090627/NEWS03/906270341/-1/SPORTS

A federal judge yesterday sentenced a 75-year-old former Rockland tax preparer to 15 months in prison for filing fraudulent returns.

Duane Howell, who operated offices in West Nyack and Bardonia, also claimed $900,000 in phony deductions for contributions to retirement plans from 1992 to 2003.
U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon in White Plains also sentenced Howell to $1.2 million restitution.

Howell, formerly of Rockland who maintained homes in Princeton, N.J., and Florida, previously served four months in federal prison in 1991 for defrauding the Internal Revenue Service.
A Howell employee, Glen Robins, 49, of Princeton, received 30 months in prison for his role in falsifying hundreds of tax returns.

Howell admitted to charges of preparing fraudulent returns for business partnerships and individuals as well as lying on returns he filed for himself and his own partnerships.
Under federal law, partnerships must report information on their finances to the IRS but do not pay taxes.

Instead of reporting the information their clients gave them, Howell and Robins falsified expenses and deductions, such as office expenses, consulting fees and management fees.
They also falsely claimed that the partnerships paid fees to some of the principals, making it look like those individuals received income and allowing them to claim retirement-plan deductions on their individual returns, the indictment says.

Howell and his employee also generated $9 million in fraudulent expenses on partnership returns.

The fake expenses made it look as if the business partnerships had lost money. Many of the partners then signed off on returns claiming those losses lowered their individual tax liability.
Howell faced between 87 and 108 months in prison for conspiracy to commit tax fraud. His age and cooperation with investigators led to a lesser sentence from McMahon, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Court records indicate Howell was charged in September 1986 with conspiring to defraud the IRS and making false statements to the IRS starting in 1978.

He was sentenced to six months in prison and started serving the sentence in January 1991. He was released early, in May 1991, records show.

Howell's lawyer, Patrick Burke of Suffern, asked for a home-confinement sentence, said Herbert Hadad, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in White Plains.

McMahon cited Howell's previous conviction by saying he experienced "a life of unremitting criminality for a long time," Hadad said, and "a crooked tax accountant doesn't get to go home.

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Frank Amodeo was sentenced to prison for $181.million tax fraud.

In a exclusive Orange County jailhouse interview Wednesday, June 24, 2009 Frank Amodeo (center).

Source- http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-amodeo-tax-fraud-plea-062509,0,4000098.story?track=rss

Former Orlando venture capitalist, Frank L. Amadeo sentenced to prision for 22 years on tax-cheating, wants to cancel his plea deal.

Frank L. Amodeo, the Orlando businessman who once sat two seats down from the president, sat at a table in the Orange County jail Wednesday. With his navy jail scrubs, plastic sandals and buzz cut, he was a long way from being a powerful businessman at the White House.

It has been nearly a month since Amodeo was sentenced to prison for cheating the government out of $181.million in taxes in one of the largest employment-tax-fraud cases in Internal Revenue Service history.

Now the 48-year-old disbarred lawyer says he shouldn't have agreed to the plea deal with federal prosecutors and would rather risk going to trial.

Amodeo, who once thought he would rule the world and had the powers of an Old Testament prophet, admits he was power hungry. But he said he's nothing like the greedy criminal prosecutors portrayed him to be. Amodeo's crimes stemmed from his private-equity firm Mirabilis Ventures Inc., which created and bought distressed companies. He held onto employee withholding taxes that should have gone to the IRS.

In an exclusive jailhouse interview, Amodeo told the Orlando Sentinel he thinks prosecutors lied. Amodeo said he didn't receive the sentencing reductions he should have.

"Let me go try the case, and then it will all become clear," he said. "I'll put up all the videotapes, all of the witnesses; the truth will be known, and I'll take whatever punishment for what I did. The chips will fall where they may.

"Tell me about the motion you filed soon after being sentenced to 22 ½ years in prison, which asks the court to cancel your plea agreement. "What you're seeing is a plea that I ..... had prepared before the sentencing. I realized by the day of that hearing that this wasn't the agreement that I was told."I had prepared this, signed it anyway in case I was remanded to the marshal's custody. I had left it in the possession of a former administrative assistant and said if I'm remanded to the custody of the marshal, you file this document no matter what.

"It sounds like you wish you just went to trial. "Shoot, yeah. This was stupid. I should have just tried the case. I also don't want them prosecuting other less culpable people, which they're going to try to do. I know who they're trying to prosecute. They're looking at the wrong people.

"Do you think other people should be held accountable, other than yourself? "Well, it depends. ..... As for the Mirabilis people, I don't know. Let me tell you what, no Mirabilis person should be allowed to say I didn't know the taxes were being used to fund other things. This is all a question of intent.

"A psychiatrist testified you are bipolar, and your mental illness was discussed at length. Today, you say you are being treated and have made substantial progress. Do you still have grandiose ideas and thoughts about world domination? "They still come through, absolutely." (Amodeo later went on to say he doesn't actually think he will take over the world, though he has the thoughts.)"I began to understand risk, which I never did before.

"With that said, if your plea agreement is canceled, will it be a great risk going to trial? "No.

"Do you have any fear about going to prison? "Not at all. Except for being bored to death. If you saw the movie about the debaters with Denzel Washington in it, he says there's only two places you can go and read: one is prison; the other is college. So I'm going to read."What are your plans post-prison? "Those plans I'll keep quiet. I have plans. I have plans.

"What do you want the public to know about you? "They portrayed this as if I went and raided companies, and that was the farthest thing from the truth. ..... We were the suckers if anything. ..... Most times we were going to help; we really viewed ourselves as white knights every single time."

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
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Purrfect Auto Locations Raided by IRS.

Source- http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=10559498

Federal agents executed search warrants today at multiple Purrfect Auto locations on Thursday. Back in 2006, the I-Team's hidden cameras caught franchise employees charging for services they never performed.

The Nevada Attorney General accused 11 Purrfect Auto franchises of a common scheme -- luring customers with low cost services and then charging for parts and repairs that are never installed or performed. Now after nearly three years, the federal government has taken an interest in the company's business practices. Beginning early Thursday morning, the Internal Revenue Service executed search warrants at multiple locations, according to the U.S Attorney's Office.

Witnesses say the IRS agents closed the business to customers while they reviewed documents and computers within. "I didn't expect to see Internal Revenue show up at the door with guns on their side. Kind of weird, kind of scary," said customer Andrea Frohman.

The IRS declined to comment about the nature of the investigation, though law enforcement sources say Purrfect Auto has been on the agency's radar for several years. The AG's case against some of the franchisees is scheduled to go to trial this fall. A defense attorney involved in that case said he was unaware of the IRS activity. He says he will have more information next week.

Calls to the franchise company, Francare, were not returned.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

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Hialeah woman charged with tax fraud.

Source-http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2009/06/15/daily35.html

A Hialeah woman has been charged in a 45-count indictment with allegedly helping to prepare false tax returns.

According to the indictment, between 2001 and 2005 Zully M. Cordoba assisted in the preparation of more than 3,700 tax returns and more than 6,100 amended returns on behalf of numerous clients and herself.

Cordoba worked out of her home between 2001 and 2003, and from 2003 to 2005 operated under the name Cordoba Tax Services from storefront offices in a Hialeah mall, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

In each of the instances, she is alleged to have falsified documentation such as employee expenses and charitable deductions.

For each 1040, she charged anywhere from $35 to $110. For the amended returns she received a percentage based on the amount of the refund, according to the indictment.

“Due to the contingent, refund-dependent nature of Cordoba’s 10 percent fee arrangement, Cordoba benefitted financially to an extent which increased proportionally in relation to the amount of additional deductions and expenses included in the 1040X returns which she prepared,” the indictment reads.

If convicted, she faces up to three years on each count.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
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Metro man gets jail time for tax fraud.

Source- http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/othercities/atlanta/stories/2009/06/08/daily98.html

Cumming, Ga., resident Daniel Edward Turner was sentenced Friday to three years and 10 months in prison for obstruction and mailing fraudulent financial instruments to the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Treasury to purportedly pay his back taxes.

Turner also was fined $5,000 and ordered to pay back $114,053 to the IRS.

Beginning in 1998 and continuing to 2007, Turner obstructed tax laws through a number of acts, including not filing tax returns, not paying taxes, hiding income, sending false financial instruments to the IRS and the Treasury, and falsely claiming that IRS employees committed misconduct, including the IRS district director, the chief of the Automated Collection Service and the revenue agent who audited him.

Between April 1998 and February 2004, Turner paid fees to an organization called “American Rights Litigators” (ARL) in exchange for his use of ARL’s fraudulent tax schemes. Turner submitted more than $491,000 in bogus financial instruments -- called “Bills of Exchange” -- to the U.S. Department of Treasury and IRS in purported payment of the federal tax liabilities he owed. The bogus “Bills of Exchange” took various forms, some of which appeared similar to regular checks, but were fraudulent in that they attempted to draw funds from non-existent accounts with the Treasury Department.

The evidence at trial also showed that in 2004, Turner obstructed IRS collection activities by causing a contractor of his residential framing business to issue more than $92,500 in payments to another person for services rendered to Turner, in an effort to conceal Turner’s true income from the IRS.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

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Man gets 22 months in prison for tax fraud.

Source- http://www.gazette.net/stories/06102009/silvnew180952_32533.shtml

A Silver Spring man convicted of cheating the federal government out of almost $700,000 in tax credits was sentenced to 33 months in prison Monday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Soumahoro Ben Amara, 46, pleaded guilty March 12 for filing up to 43 fraudulent corporate tax returns between 2006 and July 2008 for companies he said he owned, according to the release.

Amara said in his plea agreement that his companies had paid taxes on fuel that was used for non-taxable purposes and he was entitled to refunds of up to $3.3 million. The IRS rejected some of those but still issued refund checks totaling $694,883 to Amara, according to the release. He was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus to pay restitution for the exact amount of refunds he received.

U.S. attorneys prosecuting the case said neither Amara nor any of his corporations ever actually purchased the fuel for which he claimed tax refunds.

Amara also will serve 24 months in prison consecutively with his 33 months for an unrelated identity theft case filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, according to the release.

Several co-defendants were also sentenced in U.S. District Court for the tax fraud case.
June Leftwich, 34, formerly of Forestville, and Telemaga Bamba, 44, of Bowie prepared Amara's tax returns and shared the proceeds of the IRS refund checks, according to the release.

Bamba's plea agreement said he and his co-conspirators filed 154 fraudulent corporate tax returns for fuel credits during tax years 2004 through 2007, claiming more than $11.7 million in refunds. Judge Titus sentenced Bamba to 70 months in prison and ordered him to forfeit two Mercedes-Benz vehicles and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle he bought with the money and to pay restitution of $928,649.

Titus also sentenced Leftwich to 55 months in prison and ordered him to pay more than $2.4 million in restitution, according to the release. Leftwich pled guilty to filing 60 fraudulent tax returns for tax years 2003 through 2007, claiming $4.2 million in fuel tax credits. His wife, Dorian Holmes, also filed 13 fraudulent tax credits totaling $830,384, according to the release. The couple received almost $500,000 from the IRS, which the press release said they used to buy residential property in Houston.

Titus sentenced Holmes, 28, to two months in prison and ordered her to pay restitution of almost $500,000.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
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Investment manager who stole millions pleads guilty.

Richard Piccoli

Source- http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/696803.html

Standing in a courtroom packed with angry and disgusted investors, scam artist Richard S. Piccoli took a guilty plea today that is likely to put him in federal prison for the rest of his life.
The 82-year-old Amherst businessman pleaded guilty to felony mail fraud and a tax fraud charge before U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.

When Piccoli is sentenced in October, he likely will become one of the oldest people ever sent to prison from Buffalo's federal courts.

"I don't care if he spends the rest of his life in prison. He sure didn't care what he did to us," said Joann Abram, 79, of Hamburg, one of about 150 victims who packed the courtroom for this afternoon's proceedings.

Authorities said hundreds of people, most of them senior citizens with modest incomes, invested millions of dollars in Piccoli's investment firm.

Piccoli was arrested in January after an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service criminal division.

Agents charged Piccoli with running a Ponzi scheme, which is defined by police as an investment scheme in which money from new investors is used to pay off old investors, until, eventually the money runs out.

In Piccoli's case, he told investors he was investing their money in "discounted real estate mortgage portfolios," when in fact, he was keeping the money, agents said.

Many of his investors were priests and other religious people, and he met many of them by advertising in religious publications, promising returns of 7 to 8 percent for people who invested with Gen-See.

Piccoli appeared before the judge with his attorneys, Joel L. Daniels and Richard T. Sullivan, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gretchen L. Wylegala.

Daniels said Piccoli's advanced age is a sentencing factor that he will bring to Skretny's attention, but he added that the length of the sentence is entirely up to the judge.

Under federal law, the charges Piccoli admitted to carry a maximum prison term of 25 years.
But if Skretny follows sentencing guidelines, Piccoli could get a prison term as low as 19 years and 11 months.

He also has agreed to make efforts to return as much money as possible to his victims, and Daniels said about $7 million is available.

Federal agents are still trying to determine exactly how much was stolen and how many people were victimized, Wylegala said.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

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Used Car Dealer Arrested for Tax Fraud.

Source-http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Used-Car-Dealer-Arrested-for-Tax-Fraud/xwE1g6TsCE6un8yvgUHsfw.cspx

SAN DIEGO - A San Diego used car dealer facing trial this summer for allegedly filing false tax returns for his business was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of understating the dealership's income.

Yousef Hoodneh, 60, faces two felony counts of state income tax fraud, according to the Franchise Tax Board. Hoodneh is listed as the corporate officer of the Flamingo Car Group Inc. and Flamingo Automotive Inc., at 9485 Black Mountain Road, according to the state tax agency.

FTB agents allege that Hoodneh understated 2003 and 2004 corporate income by $6.5 million and failed to file a 2005 return reflecting $74,000 income.

Hoodneh's tax liability is allegedly $1.5 million without penalties, interest and investigative costs figured in. He is scheduled to be arraigned at the San Diego County Courthouse Thursday and faces up to three years in state prison on each count if convicted.

The pending case, in which he faces seven felony counts of filing fraudulent state tax returns and two of aiding in the filing of false returns, is scheduled for trial on July 20.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
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EXCLUSIVE: IRS files $800,000 lien on '04 Kerry campaign.

Sen. John Kerry

Source- http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/03/irs-files-800000-lien-on-04-kerry-campaign/

The Internal Revenue Service has filed a tax lien seeking more than $800,000 from Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, escalating a dispute over payroll taxes that the lawmaker's office blames on faulty government paperwork. The episode has left a candidate who fell just a few percentage points short of winning the White House trying to convince the government's tax collector that his campaign already paid the taxes and doesn't owe any more.

The IRS filed the lien in the District of Columbia earlier this year, claiming that a previous attempt to collect the money was unsuccessful. "We have made a demand for payment of this liability, but it remains unpaid," the tax filing stated.

The IRS is taking action more than a year after the campaign closed its books and sent nearly $200,000 in leftover presidential campaign money to Mr. Kerry's Senate election fund.
Download a PDF of the IRS document here.

Mr. Kerry's office said the IRS claim is erroneous and that the campaign paid its taxes correctly in 2004 when the Massachusetts Democrat challenged President Bush and lost.

"The IRS merely has a gap in their electronic records of the 2004 campaign's payroll forms," Kerry spokeswoman Whitney Smith said of the lien. "We filed these forms correctly, and we're working with the IRS to provide them any and all needed information to set the record straight.

"There's no there there; nothing to see here so move along folks, end of story," she said.
IRS spokesman Anthony Burke declined to comment on the lien or on the Kerry aide's characterization of the tax issue, saying federal law bars IRS employees from discussing individual cases.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

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N.D. construction exec to plead guilty in tax fraud case.

Source- http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/120664/group/home/

A North Dakota construction materials executive accused of spending company money to build a home, renovate a truck stop he owned and take an African vacation has indicated he will plead guilty in a tax fraud case.

A hearing for Micheal Fisher, a former vice president and director of Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. Inc., has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Friday in federal court in Bismarck. Attorneys for Fisher could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Fisher was scheduled to go on trial next week on nine felony charges of conspiracy to commit tax fraud and helping to compile false tax returns.

Prosecutors say Fisher used hundreds of thousands of dollars in company funds to finance construction of a new home in Dickinson, and to build and renovate a Dickinson truck stop owned by a company he controlled, Badlands Properties LLC.

Fisher spent $6,484 in company funds for a family trip to Africa in 2002, court filings allege. He also tapped the company's treasury to pay utility bills, medical expenses and credit card bills for himself and family members, the court filings say.

Fisher Sand & Gravel is based in Dickinson, and has offices in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and South Dakota, its Web site says. It crushes gravel for road construction, and has affiliated companies that supply concrete and asphalt, specialize in earth moving and demolition, and manufacture equipment for processing road construction materials.

The company's chief financial officer, Amiel Schaff, and its comptroller, Clyde Frank, have pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of conspiracy to commit tax fraud. Schaff is to be sentenced July 13; Frank's sentencing is scheduled Aug. 17. Both men were members of the company's board, as was Fisher.

Fisher Sand & Gravel itself was charged with conspiracy to commit tax fraud. The company has agreed to pay $1.17 million in back taxes, interest and penalties to settle questions about its tax returns from 2001 to 2004, court filings say. The sum includes a $500,000 fine.

Fisher Sand & Gravel has approved a new company code of conduct, and agreed to cooperate in

an Internal Revenue Service probe of its tax returns from 2005 to 2009, the court documents say.

Federal prosecutors have agreed to delay the prosecution of the company until Dec. 31, 2011, while the investigation continues.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
http://www.irsrewards.com/.

Robin Givens in Trouble With IRS - $292,000 Trouble.

Source- http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2009/05/27/robin-givens-in-trouble-with-irs/

We've all heard the old adage, "I don't have to do [nothing] but be Black and die!" It's quite possible that Robin Givens, ex-wife of Mike Tyson and later becoming ex-wife to former tennis instructor Svetozar Marinkovic tried to alter her destiny. The veteran actress is in hot water for allegedly neglecting to pay $292,000 in taxes, interest and penalties as far back as 1996.

Perhaps this "memory lapse" began when husband number two entered the scene. In 1997, she swapped vows with her then tennis instructor Svetozar Marinkovic. This union proved to be a disaster and was even shorter than the marriage to Iron Mike. The day she married Svet, they separated! What could move a person to enter such a commitment and call it quits the same day, citing "irreconcilable differences"? Ya think?!Back to the financial woe at hand ...

According to Forbes.com: In a lawsuit filed last week, the feds asked the federal court in Tampa, Fla. to enter a formal judgment against Givens on 39 separate assessments covering eight of the 12 calendar years through 2007. Such a court finding would make it easier for the Internal Revenue Service to try to collect the allegedly unpaid amounts through garnishing her earnings or levying her assets, such as bank accounts.Former classmate to Holly Robinson Peete, Givens has seen her share of trouble with the IRS.

Truth be told, there are state tax liens filed against her in Florida, New York and California, but it appears she has settled some of them. In 2004 she was sued by a little 84-year-old pedestrian whom she struck with her SUV in a crosswalk.

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Report IRS Tax Fraud by calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting

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Tax cheat Frank Amodeo gets 22-1/2 years in prison, $181 million in restitution.

Source- http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-amodeo-tax-sentencing-052609,0,3273467.story

Frank L. Amodeo, an Orlando businessman who thought he had the powers of an Old Testament prophet and that he one day would rule the world, learned Tuesday where he'll spend his next two decades: in prison.

A federal judge in Orlando sentenced Amodeo to 22 1/2 years behind bars for cheating the government out of $181 million in taxes. In addition, Amodeo was ordered to serve three years probation and pay $181 million in restitution.

Amodeo, wearing a navy suit, blue shirt and orange tie, said little during Tuesday's hearing. He appeared to twitch throughout the proceedings, and was ordered into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Afterward, a relative of Amodeo's who attended the hearing declined to comment.

Amodeo, 48, signed a plea deal last year, admitting to five felonies, including failure to collect and pay payroll taxes and obstructing a federal investigation, in one of the largest employment tax-fraud cases in IRS history.

His crimes stemmed from his private-equity firm Mirabilis Ventures Inc., which created and bought distressed companies, including ones that provided payroll services. He held onto employee withholding taxes that should have gone to the IRS.

"The United States is very satisfied with the sentence. We believe this sends a message ... that you cannot steal taxpayer's monies," Assistant U.S. Attorney I. Randall Gold said.

Sentencing proceedings began earlier this month for the complex case. Amodeo testified. So did a psychiatrist, who said Amodeo is bipolar and that his "severe psychiatric illness" played a role in the crimes he committed.

On Tuesday, defense attorney Harrison "Butch" Slaughter Jr. explained to U.S. District Judge John Antoon II the challenges he's had in representing Amodeo because of that illness.

Slaughter said he has seen Amodeo talking to himself and that Amodeo told him he was really going to rule the world. Amodeo also thought Gold was simply going to fold his cards and drop the charges.

"He is sick," Slaughter said. "I've seen it.

"Gold told the judge he didn't dispute that Amodeo is bipolar. But he said it wasn't the illness that caused Amodeo to commit the crimes.

"It was nothing more than greed," Gold said.

Antoon noted that he did take into account that Amodeo is mentally ill. However, he said, the sentence was necessary to protect the public from further crimes. Amodeo has an "insatiable greed," a disregard for others, as well as a history of dishonest conduct, the judge said. "The offense was committed out of greed."

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Brockport car dealer sentenced in tax fraud

Source- http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090521/NEWS01/905210336/1002/NEWS/Brockport+car+dealer+sentenced+in+tax+fraud

A Brockport car dealer has been sentenced on tax fraud charges.

The state Department of Taxation and Finance announced that Howard V. Ellinwood, owner of Wholesale Used Cars, 5605 Brockport-Spencerport Road, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 consecutive Sundays in the Monroe County Sheriff's Office Work Release Program and placed on five years' probation.

A state investigation discovered Ellinwood, 53, of 35 Ridge Meadows Drive, Ogden, failed to file quarterly sales tax returns from Sept. 1, 1999, through Feb. 28, 2007.
Ellinwood pleaded guilty in March to a tax fraud charge.

As part of his plea agreement, Ellinwood paid restitution in the amount of $7,300 to the tax department.

Ellinwood was sentenced before State Supreme Court Judge Joseph Valentino on a charge of third-degree grand larceny, a felony.

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