Jury Finds Keith Aaron Vann, 42, of Oakland Guilty of $3.3 Million Fraud Scheme

Source- http://www.fbi.gov/sanfrancisco/press-releases/2012/jury-finds-oakland-man-guilty-of-3.3-million-fraud-scheme

OAKLAND, CA—Keith Aaron Vann, 42, of Oakland was convicted by a federal jury Monday of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, wire fraud, and three counts of money laundering, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

The jury found that Vann participated in a scheme to defraud two Arizona elementary school teachers of $3.3 million from their father’s estate by making false representations including, among other things, that Global Missions was a non-profit organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service; that it provided humanitarian aid worldwide, including in Africa; and that donations to Global Missions would be tax deductible. The evidence presented during the trial showed that donations to Global Missions were actually used by Vann and others to pay for personal trips, jewelry, a down payment on a luxury car, and a $1.25 million home.

The guilty verdict followed a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong. Vann was charged by indictment on April 16, 2008, with Joseph Williams of Hayward, California, and William Joe Little Jr., 47, of Auburn, California. Little pled guilty on November 20, 2012, to the conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. The charges against Williams were dismissed following his death in 2010.

The sentencing of Vann is scheduled for March 26, 2013, before Judge Armstrong in Oakland. The maximum statutory penalty for the violation of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud and the violation of wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution. Each of the three money laundering convictions carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

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Scotts Valley Investment Company Charged in $60 Million Fraud Scheme

Source- http://www.fbi.gov/sanfrancisco/press-releases/2012/scotts-valley-investment-company-charged-in-60-million-fraud-scheme

SAN JOSE, CA—A federal grand jury in San Jose indicted John Geringer and Christopher Luck of Scotts Valley, California, and Keith Rode of Franklin, Wisconsin, on Wednesday with mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

According to the indictment, Geringer, 48; Luck, 56; and Rode, 45, are alleged to have been partners in the management of an investment company called Geringer, Luck, and Rode LLC (GLR). GLR managed an investment fund called GLR Growth Fund. The partners recruited individuals to invest in the GLR Growth Fund. The partners assured these investors that the fund would invest in a diversified array of assets, including publicly traded equities and direct private company investments. Instead, according to the indictment, after 2009 the partners diverted investor funds almost exclusively into two privately‑held companies. The indictment alleges that between 2006 and 2009, Geringer misrepresented his investment performance to his partners and his investors. Then, according to the indictment, after Luck and Rode learned of Geringer’ s misrepresentations, they continued to recruit new investors knowing that any investment would not be allocated among diversified assets, as promised but rather would go entirely towards private companies. GLR received more than $60 million from investors but diverted half of the money to themselves and private companies in which they held an interest.

Geringer, Luck, and Rode are scheduled to make their initial appearance in federal court in San Jose on January 17, 2013, at 1:30 p.m. before United States Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd.

The maximum penalty for each count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and for the substantive mail and wire fraud counts, is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, plus restitution. The maximum penalty for each count of securities fraud in violation of Title 15, United States Code, Sections 78j(b) and 78ff, and Title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 240.10b‑5 and 240.10b5‑2, is 20 years in prison and a fine of $5 million, plus restitution. The maximum penalty for each count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957(a), is 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the transaction, plus restitution. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

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Kelley Lee Steiner, 52, of Jefferson City, was sentenced for $540,000 Embezzlement, Tax Fraud

Source- http://www.fbi.gov/kansascity/press-releases/2013/former-bank-employee-sentenced-for-540-000-embezzlement-tax-fraud

JEFFERSON CITY, MO—David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former employee of Jefferson Bank in Jefferson City, Missouri was sentenced in federal court today for embezzling more than $540,000 from the bank and another former employer as well as for tax fraud.

Kelley Lee Steiner, 52, of Jefferson City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Steiner to pay $664,495 in restitution.

Steiner, who pleaded guilty on February 27, 2012, was employed by Jefferson Bank as vice president and secretary to the board of directors from June 14, 1999 to November 12, 2008. Steiner served as personal executive assistant to former bank president Harold W. Westhues. By pleading guilty today, Steiner admitted that she embezzled a total of $487,199 from both the bank and from Westhues’ personal checking account. Steiner also admitted that she embezzled $54,000 while employed at Modern Business Systems. By failing to report the embezzled funds as income on her federal tax returns from 2005 to 2008, Steiner caused tax harm to the United States in the amount of $143,623.

Steiner had been given authority to write checks on Westhues’ personal account and sign his name to those checks in order to pay his personal expenses. During an audit of Westhues’ personal checking account, the bank discovered that Steiner had, without authority, diverted funds totaling approximately $378,000 for her personal benefit, which included writing checks to herself and paying her personal credit card bills and her children’s college expenses.

Steiner also prepared paperwork for the bank to reimburse Westhues for work-related expenses incurred by him that were typically charged to his credit card. Investigation determined that Steiner had diverted approximately $19,070 in valid reimbursement funds from Westhues and used them to pay on her personal credit cards. Steiner also submitted false documentation to the bank for work-related expenses purportedly incurred by Westhues, which were then reimbursed by the bank, including the re-submission of valid credit card statements which had already been previously reimbursed by the bank. It was discovered that an additional $29,947 had been diverted by Steiner to pay on her personal credit card accounts.

Steiner was responsible for paying the board of directors for participating in board meetings, audit meetings, and other special bank meetings. Board members were paid $400 in cash for each meeting they attended. During a review of board fees paid by the bank in 2008, a bank officer identified approximately $60,400 in cash embezzled by Steiner that had purportedly been paid as board fees.

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David Rubin, CDR founder and owner Plead Guilty to Bid-Rigging and Fraud Conspiracies Related to Municipal Bond Investments

Source- http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2011/cdr-financial-products-and-its-owner-plead-guilty-to-bid-rigging-and-fraud-conspiracies-related-to-municipal-bond-investments

WASHINGTON—A Beverly Hills, Calif.,-based financial products and services firm, and its founder and owner pleaded guilty today in the Southern District of New York for their participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other related municipal finance contracts, the Department of Justice announced.

Rubin/Chambers, Dunhill Insurance Services, also known as CDR Financial Products, and David Rubin, CDR founder and owner, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in the Southern District of New York. Rubin and CDR, along with Zevi Wolmark, also known as Stewart Wolmark, the former chief financial officer and managing director of CDR, and Evan Andrew Zarefsky, a vice president of CDR, were indicted on Oct. 29, 2009. The trial for Wolmark and Zarefsky is scheduled to begin on Jan. 3, 2012, in the Southern District of New York.

Rubin and CDR each pleaded guilty to participating in separate bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies with various financial institutions and insurance companies and their representatives. These institutions and companies, or “providers,” offered a type of contract, known as an investment agreement, to state, county and local governments and agencies throughout the United States. The public entities were seeking to invest money from a variety of sources, primarily the proceeds of municipal bonds that they had issued to raise money for, among other things, public projects. Rubin and CDR also pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with those schemes.

“Mr. Rubin and his company engaged in fraudulent and anticompetitive conduct that harmed municipalities and other public entities,” said Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s guilty pleas are an important development in our continued efforts to hold accountable those who violate the antitrust laws and subvert the competitive process in our financial markets.”

According to court documents, CDR was hired by public entities that issue municipal bonds to act as their broker and conduct what was supposed to be a competitive bidding process for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds. Competitive bidding for those contracts is the subject of regulations issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is related to the tax-exempt status of the bonds.

During his plea hearing, Rubin admitted that, from 1998 until 2006, he and other co-conspirators supplied information to providers to help them win bids, solicited intentionally losing bids, and signed certifications that contained false statements regarding whether the bidding process for certain investment agreements complied with relevant Treasury Regulations. Additionally, Rubin admitted that he and other co-conspirators solicited fees from providers, which were in fact payments to CDR for rigging or manipulating bids for certain investment agreements so that a particular provider would win that agreement at an artificially determined price.

“Mr. Rubin and his firm were trusted with public money and confidence to assist municipalities with issuing bonds,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk. “Contrary to his agreement and the law, Mr. Rubin shirked his responsibilities while defrauding taxpayers. Thankfully, this bid-rigging scheme, where Mr. Rubin decided the winners and losers, is over.”

“IRS is the federal agency responsible for compliance with tax laws applicable to the issuance of tax-exempt municipal bonds,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles R. Pine of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) New York Field Office. “Today’s guilty pleas by David Rubin and CDR are the result of a coordinated effort by the Department of Justice and IRS-Criminal Investigation. Depriving municipalities of investment earnings and diverting arbitrage via illegal agreements and kickbacks will not be tolerated. IRS-Criminal Investigation agents will continue to investigate fraud in the municipal bond market and recommend prosecution against those who have participated in the fraudulent scheme.”

The bid–rigging conspiracy with which Rubin is charged carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. The fraud conspiracy with which Rubin is charged carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 criminal fine. The wire fraud charge with which Rubin is charged carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 criminal fine. The maximum fines for each of these offenses may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

CDR faces a maximum criminal fine on the bid-rigging charge of $100 million. The fraud conspiracy and wire fraud offenses with which CDR is charged each carry a maximum criminal fine of $500,000. The maximum fines for each of these offenses may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

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David Moleski, New Jersey Chiropractor Charged In Scheme To Extinguish Debt And To Obtain Fraudulent IRS Tax Refunds

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2012/txdv121496.htm

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in Trenton, N.J., returned an indictment charging David Moleski with 14 counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of corruptly impeding the due administration of the Internal Revenue laws and three counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to the indictment, Moleski attempted to extinguish both public and private debts by mailing to creditors fake financial instruments, entitled “secured promissory notes,” that purported to draw against non-existent accounts at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In addition, Moleski submitted three false tax returns with the IRS, in which he claimed tax refunds of approximately $1.2 million to which he was not entitled.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted on all counts, Moleski faces a maximum potential sentence of 318 years in prison.

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Ian Christopherson, an Attorney and Resident of Las Vegas, was Sentenced Yesterday to 33 Months in Prison for Tax Fraud

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2012/txdv121510.htm

WASHINGTON – Ian Christopherson, an attorney and resident of Las Vegas, was sentenced yesterday to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $728,786 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. On Sept. 23, 2011, following a five day trial in Las Vegas, Christopherson was convicted of two counts of income tax evasion for his federal individual income taxes and for federal employment taxes.

According to the evidence presented at trial, from 1994 through 1998, Christopherson ran a small law firm that employed up to nine individuals. He withheld taxes from each of his employees during these years, but did not timely file employment tax returns or his own individual income tax returns. In December 1998, the defendant filed more than 30 delinquent tax returns without making a single payment, even though each of the tax returns he filed reported that he owed taxes. According to the individual income tax returns and employment tax returns that Christopherson filed, he owed the federal government a total of $175,685 in federal taxes. The total tax loss, including penalties and interest, is $728,786.

Additionally, the evidence at trial showed that Christopherson spent the next five years engaged in stalling and diversionary tactics with the IRS. The defendant serially submitted incomplete Offers in Compromise (OIC) for consideration, only to withdraw them later. He failed to disclose significant assets in the OIC, including up to $250,000. He also misrepresented his efforts to file other back tax returns as required by the IRS.

The evidence at trial further showed that in August 2002, Christopherson set up a nominee account in the state of Montana in order to conceal his assets from further collection efforts by the IRS. Christopherson made use of a bank account under the name of “Industrial Consultants,” a company owned by friends of his, which was opened solely for the purpose of assisting Christopherson in evading his taxes. Over the next five years, Christopherson used this nominee account as his own - depositing checks from clients, transferring money from his client trust account, and writing checks for personal and business expenses.

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April J. Rampton, 41, Convicted of Filing False Claims for Tax Refund Totaling More than $2.2 Million

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2012/txdv121515.htm

WASHINGTON – April J. Rampton, 41, formerly of Heber City, Utah, was convicted yesterday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City of nine counts of filing false claims for income tax refunds, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Rampton, who was indicted on Sept. 14, 2011, was released following the verdict. She is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Feb. 27, 2013. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on six similar counts.

According to the indictment and the proof at trial, Rampton prepared at least nine false claims for tax refunds on behalf of others. The total amount of false tax refunds claimed for the counts of conviction was more than $2.2 million.

The evidence at trial further established that Rampton used false IRS Forms 1099-OID with fictitious amounts of income and withholdings as the basis for the false claims for tax refund.

For each false claim conviction, Rampton faces a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense.

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Joseph Rizzuti, Florida Accountant Indicted For Stealing Client Money Intendend For IRS

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2012/txdv121515.htm

WASHINGTON – An indictment was unsealed today in Fort Pierce, Fla., charging Joseph Rizzuti with one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and four counts of wire fraud, the Justice Department and the IRS announced. The indictment was returned by a grand jury on Nov. 29, 2012.

According to the indictment, Rizzuti, the owner of Beacon Accounting Services in Palm City, Fla., interfered with the IRS’s ability to collect taxes owed by two clients, stole payments from those clients intended for the IRS, and made misrepresentations to those clients and to the IRS. Rizzuti allegedly stole approximately $265,000 from one client and approximately $23,500 from another client, money that the clients gave him to pay to the IRS.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Rizzuti faces a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison for each of the four wire fraud counts and a maximum potential sentence of 3 years for the obstruction count. He is also subject to fines and mandatory restitution if convicted.

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Belinda Brooks (47, Tampa) Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Prison for Tax Fraud and Identity Theft

Source- http://www.fbi.gov/tampa/press-releases/2012/tampa-woman-sentenced-to-more-than-five-years-in-prison-for-tax-fraud-and-identity-theft

TAMPA, FL—U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven today sentenced Belinda Brooks (47, Tampa) to five-and-a-half years in federal prison for stolen identity refund fraud. Judge Scriven sentenced Brooks to a term of 42 months’ imprisonment for theft of government property, to be followed by an additional 24 months for aggravated identity theft. As part of her sentence, the court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $118,882.63, the proceeds of Brooks’ criminal activity. She pleaded guilty on May 25, 2012.

According to court documents, in addition to filing her own false tax return, Brooks stole the names and Social Security numbers of other individuals in order to file fraudulent tax returns in their names and obtain tax refunds for the tax years 2008 and 2009.

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Sonny Austin Ramdeo, 35, Arrested and Charged in $20 Million Payroll Tax Fraud Scheme

Source- http://www.fbi.gov/miami/press-releases/2012/sunrise-man-arrested-and-charged-in-20-million-payroll-tax-fraud-scheme

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Michael B. Steinbach, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID); and Christopher B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), announce the unsealing of a December 6, 2012 indictment charging Sonny Austin Ramdeo, 35, of Sunrise, with wire fraud in connection with a $20 million federal payroll tax fraud scheme, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 2. Ramdeo was arrested today in Brooklyn and made his initial appearance in federal court in the Eastern District of New York earlier today. He is expected to be removed to the Southern District of Florida on these charges.

According to the indictment, from as early as 2005, defendant Ramdeo was employed as the payroll supervisor at Promise Healthcare Inc. (Promise Health Care) and Success Healthcare Group (Success Healthcare), both of which owned and operated hospital facilities throughout the United States. As the payroll supervisor for these two companies (the companies), Ramdeo was responsible for overseeing the payment of bi-weekly wages and related payroll taxes for more than 3,500 employees.

To execute his scheme, Ramdeo allegedly incorporated PayServ Tax Inc. and thereafter represented to officers and employees of Promise Healthcare that PayServ Tax would handle the transfer of local, state, and federal payroll taxes to the proper agencies on behalf of Promise Healthcare and Success Healthcare. In fact, however, Ramdeo kept the money paid by Promise and Success Healthcare to PayServ for his personal use.

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ROBERT GIULIETTI, 55, was Arrested on Corruption Charges

Source- http://www.fbi.gov/newhaven/press-releases/2012/u.s.-postal-service-facilities-project-manager-arrested-on-corruption-charges

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Joanne Yarbrough, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Major Fraud Investigations Division, announced that ROBERT GIULIETTI, 55, a resident of Cheshire and an employee of the U.S. Postal Service, was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging him with bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering. In association with today’s arrest, the government also executed seizure warrants on three bank accounts controlled by GIULIETTI and seized $630,731.40 in proceeds allegedly involved in the commission of those offenses.

According to statements made in court today, GIULIETTI was a facilities project manager for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) at the USPS Northeast Facilities Office in Windsor, Connecticut. GIULIETTI’s duties included recommending and selecting facilities improvement contractors, reviewing and approving bids received from those contractors for USPS work, certifying the completion of work by contractors, and approving payment authorizations. The complaint alleges that GIULIETTI accepted significant corrupt payments from contractors doing business with the USPS in return for being influenced in the performance of his official duties.

In addition, the complaint alleges that in approximately September 2009, GIULIETTI formed MGC LLC, an entity he controlled under the name of a nominee owner, to do business with the USPS on projects on which he worked. Operated MGC from his USPS office in Windsor, GIULIETTI used his position to direct USPS contracts to MGC, to approve MGC’s work and to authorize payment to MGC for work. After GIULIETTI would direct USPS contracts to MGC, he would engage other contractors to perform the actual work involved with the project. GIULIETTI generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit by having MGC charge USPS more than MGC had to pay the contractors who performed the actual work.

The complaint further alleges that GIULIETTI engaged in financial transactions with the proceeds of his scheme in order to conceal their nature by MGC by issuing approximately $250,000 in checks payable to the nominee owner of MGC and depositing them into bank accounts he controlled.

Following his arrest, GIULIETTI appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport and was released on $200,000 secured bond.

If convicted of bribery, GIULIETTI faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a fine of up to $250,000. If convicted of conspiracy, GIULIETTI faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000. If convicted of wire fraud, GIULIETTI faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000. If convicted of money laundering, GIULIETTI faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of up to $500,000.

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Department of Justice Forfeits Nearly $7 Million in Proceeds of Unlawful Offshore Gambling and Money Laundering Following Guilty Plea by William Paul Scott

Source- http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/December/12-crm-1500.html

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a consent order of forfeiture today ordering the civil forfeiture of $6,976,924 traced to international money laundering of the proceeds from an offshore Internet gambling operation that illegally targeted U.S. residents, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Richard Weber, Chief of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). The civil forfeiture action was resolved in connection with the criminal prosecution and recent conviction of William Paul Scott for violations of the Wire Act and money laundering statutes.

On Dec. 15, 2003, the U.S. government filed a civil forfeiture action against approximately $7 million held by Soulbury Limited, a shell company controlled by Scott and used to conceal the profits he gained through his illegal offshore Internet gambling operations. The government alleged that the $7 million held by Soulbury were proceeds of Wire Act violations and were subject to forfeiture as property involved in or traceable to money laundering transactions.

According to the civil forfeiture complaint, between 1997 and 2002, Scott and an associate operated World Wide Tele-Sports (WWTS), an Internet gambling operation located in Antigua. WWTS and related entities offered online sports betting services that had been heavily marketed to U.S. gamblers via the Internet and print and broadcast media. U.S. residents, who made up the vast majority of WWTS’s clientele, purchased “credit” for their Internet gambling accounts over the phone or online, and sent hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars out of the United States to WWTS’s offshore bank accounts. The U.S. gamblers then used these credits to place bets on popular professional and collegiate sporting events such as the Super Bowl and the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s men’s basketball tournament. Soliciting sports wagers over the Internet violates the Wire Act.

Based on the significant formal legal assistance provided by relevant authorities in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the United States filed the civil forfeiture complaint against WWTS criminal proceeds physically located in Guernsey, but seized $6,976,924 from a correspondent bank account in the United States held by the Royal Bank of Scotland International (Guernsey). The seizure marked the United States’ first use of a legal provision that Congress designed to overcome situations that might prevent full cooperation in forfeiture matters even where both jurisdictions wish to completely fulfill their legal forfeiture assistance obligations under the applicable bilateral and UN assistance treaties (18 U.S.C. § 981(k).

In March 1998, over five years before the civil forfeiture complaint was filed, Scott was charged in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, by criminal complaint, with conspiring to violate the Wire Act, relating to his operation of WWTS. But because Scott resided in Antigua, the United States could not execute the warrant issued for his arrest and he remained at large. Even as the criminal complaint against Scott remained outstanding, Soulbury filed a claim on March 1, 2004, answered the civil forfeiture complaint and proceeded to contest the civil forfeiture action.

In April 2004, Scott was indicted in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York on the conduct that formed the basis for the 1998 criminal complaint. In April 2005, Scott was indicted in the District of Columbia based on different criminal conduct, charging him with money laundering, violations of the Wire Act and other offenses relating to WWTS. In February 2012, the indictment in the Southern District of New York was transferred to the District of Columbia so that it could be resolved by a plea agreement that covered both pending criminal cases. Scott returned to the United States to enter a guilty plea in both cases in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 25, 2012.

Scott was convicted of one count of conspiracy to violate the Wire Act and three counts of international money laundering. As part of his plea agreement, Scott consented to the civil forfeiture of the $6,976,924 in proceeds traced to Royal Bank of Scotland International (Guernsey).

Scott is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 7, 2013. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each money laundering count and a maximum of two years in prison for the conspiracy count.

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David Moleski Former New Jersey Chiropractor Charged in Scheme to Extinguish Debt and to Obtain Fraudulent IRS Tax Refunds

Source- http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/December/12-tax-1496.html

A federal grand jury in Trenton, N.J., returned an indictment charging David Moleski with 14 counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of corruptly impeding the due administration of the Internal Revenue laws and three counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

According to the indictment, Moleski attempted to extinguish both public and private debts by mailing to creditors fake financial instruments, entitled “secured promissory notes,” that purported to draw against non-existent accounts at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In addition, Moleski submitted three false tax returns with the IRS, in which he claimed tax refunds of approximately $1.2 million to which he was not entitled.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted on all counts, Moleski faces a maximum potential sentence of 318 years in prison.

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Elton Maurice “Mark” Arrested on Charges of Receiving Illegal Kickbacks in Afghanistan

Source- http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/December/12-crm-1495.html

WASHINGTON – The former vice president of a construction company doing work in Afghanistan was arrested today on allegations of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gratuities from subcontractors during his employment in Afghanistan, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana and unsealed today charges Elton Maurice “Mark” McCabe III, 53, of Slidell, La., with one count of receiving illegal kickbacks and one count of wire fraud.

According to court documents, McCabe worked for a construction company that received subcontracts from prime contractors to the U.S. government for reconstruction efforts in Kandahar, Afghanistan. In mid- to late-2009, McCabe allegedly solicited and accepted cash payments and a wire transfer of approximately $53,000 to his wife’s bank account from subcontractors in exchange for awarding subcontracts in connection with U.S. reconstruction projects in Kandahar.

Additionally, in approximately late-2009, McCabe allegedly accepted cash payments and arranged for a contractor’s consultant to wire $20,000 to McCabe’s wife’s bank account in exchange for construction material that belonged to McCabe’s company and that McCabe did not have the authority to sell for his personal benefit.

According to court documents, McCabe used the kickbacks he received from subcontractors to pay for personal family expenses.

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Las Vegas-Based CPA, His Wife and “Highly-Specialized Paralegal” Allegedly Promote Tax-Fraud Scheme

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2012/txdv121484.htm

WASHINGTON – The United States has sued a Las Vegas-based CPA and two others to stop an alleged tax-fraud scheme, the Justice Department announced today. Named as defendants in the civil injunction suit were CPA Wayne Reeves, Reeves’ wife, Diane Vaoga, and their alleged co-promoter, James Stoll. The government complaint was filed last month in Las Vegas with the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Announcement of the court filing was delayed until Reeves was served with court papers this week.

The government complaint alleges that Reeves, Vaoga and Stoll, acting through various entities, sell a sham-trust scheme that improperly reduces or eliminates customers’ reported federal income taxes. According to the government complaint, Reeves, Vaoga and Stoll maintain offices in Las Vegas and Wyoming, and promote their scheme to customers throughout the United States. The suit also seeks to bar the defendants from preparing federal income tax returns and to require them to turn over their customer lists to the government.

According to the government complaint, Reeves, touting his experience as a CPA, solicits customers to participate in the defendants’ illegal income/asset sheltering scheme. According to the complaint Stoll refers to himself as a “highly specialized paralegal” and creates the trusts, corporations and limited-liability partnerships needed to further the scheme. Vaoga allegedly serves as an officer of one of the entities at issue. The government alleges that the defendants’ scheme “enables participants to illegally shelter income and to hide assets from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through a series of bogus entities designed to disrupt and interfere with IRS tax assessment and collection efforts.”

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A federal court has permanently barred Larry Carnell Dixon Sr., a Louisiana Tax Return Prepare for Tax Fraud

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2012/txdv121477.htm

WASHINGTON – A federal court has permanently barred Larry Carnell Dixon Sr., a Louisiana tax return preparer, and his business, Dixon’s Tax Service, LLC from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order, to which Dixon and Dixon’s Tax Service LLC, consented without admitting the allegations against them, was signed by Judge James Brady of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.

The government amended complaint alleged that Dixon and the preparers at Dixon’s Tax Service, which has offices in Baton Rouge and Gonzales, La., prepared returns for customers that reported false deductions which generated higher refunds and/or the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable credit that can generate a refund exceeding the amount of income tax paid by an individual taxpayer.

The amended complaint alleged that Dixon and the preparers at Dixon’s Tax Service fabricated and inflated business expense deductions reported on many of their taxpayers’ Schedule Cs (Forms 1040) for existing and fictional businesses. By allegedly fabricating and inflating these deductions, Dixon and Dixon’s Tax Service reduced a client’s taxable income, which resulted in a reduced tax liability and possibly a higher refund. In addition, Dixon and his preparers have allegedly repeatedly prepared returns that claim the EITC for customers who did not qualify for it. The complaint alleges that Dixon’s alleged misconduct may have cost the United States as much as $39 million.

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Alex P. Soria, 65, was Sentenced to 37 Months in Prison for Foreclosure Rescue Scam and Theft of Government Funds

Source- http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/December/12-crm-1486.html

WASHINGTON – A Las Vegas man was sentenced today to 37 months in prison for operating a foreclosure rescue scam that defrauded distressed homeowners who were struggling to pay their mortgages, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada.

Alex P. Soria, 65, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Lloyd D. George in the District of Nevada. In addition to his prison term, Soria was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $320,266 in restitution.

In August 2012, Soria pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with his scheme to defraud distressed homeowners and one count of theft of government funds for defrauding the Social Security Disability Insurance benefits program.

According to court documents, Soria identified homeowners whose mortgage debt exceeded the value of their homes and charged them a fee purportedly to reduce the principal balance of their mortgages using money from the Department of the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Soria admitted in court that he lied to homeowners about his affiliation with several mortgage lenders and that he provided victims with fraudulent letters stating they had been approved for loans. Soria also admitted he falsely told victims that his loan program had been successful in the past and charged homeowners for loan modifications he knew he could not deliver. Court documents show that Soria concealed from homeowners the fact that the state of Nevada had issued a cease and desist order which legally prohibited him from working in the mortgage industry. Soria collected over $100,000 in fees from distressed homeowners, many of whom lost their homes to foreclosure after Soria failed to deliver the loan modifications he promised.

As part of the same case, Soria also admitted to stealing government funds by continuing to collect Social Security Disability Insurance benefits while at the same time receiving income from his foreclosure relief operation. The Social Security Disability Insurance program is a federal program that replaces the wages of individuals who become unable to work due to a disability. Soria admitted to collecting over $200,000 in disability benefits from 1990 to 2010 while at the same time receiving income that he concealed from the Social Security Administration.

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Dr. George Anderson, 57, of Farmville, Va., was Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Tax Fraud.

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2012/txdv121454.htm

WASHINGTON – Dr. George Anderson, 57, of Farmville, Va., was sentenced today to 33 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for criminal tax fraud, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, sitting in Richmond, Va., also ordered Anderson to pay $471,919 of restitution to the IRS.

Anderson had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of willfully filing false tax returns. According to the statement of facts filed with the court, Anderson was the sole owner of Farmville Anesthesia Associates Inc. Beginning in 2001, Anderson attempted to reduce his business’s tax liability to zero by diverting income to sham and nominee entities. Specifically, Anderson paid hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bogus expenses out of Farmville Anesthesia’s bank accounts to other accounts held in the names of nominee trusts and limited liability companies Anderson himself controlled. He then falsely reported these payments on Farmville Anesthesia’s corporate income tax returns as legitimate business expenses. Later, Anderson spent substantial funds out of the nominee bank accounts for his personal benefit, including for the construction of his personal residence, and did not report the expenditures as income on his personal tax returns.

In his guilty plea, Anderson admitted that he filed a false 2007 corporate income tax return on behalf of Farmville Anesthesia Associates. That return was false because it reported the bogus expenses paid to Anderson-controlled sham entities. Anderson also admitted to filing a false 2005 personal income tax return. That return was false because it did not report the income Anderson spent for his benefit out of the bank accounts held in the names of the nominee trusts and LLCs.

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James and Theresa DeMuro of Bridgewater, N.J., were Sentenced to 44 Months for Irs Fraud

Source- http://www.justice.gov/tax/2012/txdv121427.htm

WASHINGTON - James and Theresa DeMuro of Bridgewater, N.J., were each sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson to 44 months in prison, followed by three years supervised release, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. Judge Thompson also ordered the DeMuros to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $1,337,952.12. A jury had convicted the DeMuros of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and 21 counts of willfully failing to pay over employment taxes. Today’s sentencing follows an April 23, 2012, order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which affirmed the convictions but remanded the case for resentencing.

According to the indictment and evidence introduced during trial, the DeMuros co-owned and operated an engineering and surveying firm called TAD Associates LLC dba DeMuro Associates. From 2002 through 2008, they withheld employment taxes from their employees’ paychecks but failed to pay more than $546,000 in taxes to the IRS. In addition, they operated under a prior entity name DA Resources Inc., which they ceased operating in an effort to thwart the ability of the IRS to collect unpaid employment taxes related to that entity.

At trial, the government introduced evidence that, beginning with the first quarter of 2007 through the last quarter in 2008, the defendants paid employees’ wages and withheld employment taxes from paychecks but did not pay any of the employee withholdings to the U.S. Treasury. In addition, the DeMuros withheld funds from their employees’ pay checks for health insurance, child support and retirement savings accounts, and failed to pay these funds over to the appropriate entities.

Evidence was also introduced that the DeMuros converted withheld funds for their business and personal use, including more than $280,000 in purchases from QVC, Home Shopping Network and Jewelry Television.

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Christopher J. Woods, 53, of Sydney, was Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Laundering Proceeds of Multi-Million-Dollar Real Estate and Loan Fraud

Source- http://www.fbi.gov/losangeles/press-releases/2012/australian-jockey-sentenced-to-four-years-in-prison-for-laundering-proceeds-of-multi-million-dollar-real-estate-and-loan-fraud

RIVERSIDE, CA—An Australian man who once worked as a jockey has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for concealing the proceeds of a loan fraud scheme that caused victims to lose more than $5 million in less than eight months.

Christopher J. Woods, 53, of Sydney, was sentenced yesterday by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips. In addition to the prison term, Judge Phillips ordered Woods to pay $3,510,000 in restitution to victims of the scheme and to pay a $10,000 fine.

Woods pleaded guilty in November 2011 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering, admitting that he conspired with others to transfer stolen money in ways that would prevent victims of a fraud from finding it, including funneling the money through multiple bank accounts in Hong Kong before it was returned to Woods’ personal bank account in Los Angeles.

The underlying loan fraud scheme was perpetrated by brothers Henrik and Hamlet Sardariani, who worked with an escrow officer named Wanda Tenney. The Sardariani brothers defrauded private money lenders by falsely assuring them that the loans they were making were safe, when in fact the brothers had no intention of paying the loans back. Tenney permitted the Sardarianis to use her escrow company to lull the victims into believing their loans were secured.

In order to obtain one of the loans, Woods and the other defendants falsely claimed that Henrik Sardariani was purchasing a hospital and additional money was needed only to briefly extend a pre-existing escrow. In fact, as Woods and Henrik Sardariani both admitted, they planned to use the lender’s money to fund bets on horse races that Woods claimed he could fix. As soon as the lender wired $2.5 million to Tenney’s supposedly secure escrow account, Woods and Sardariani instructed Tenney to wire $1.9 million to an account in Hong Kong, and the remainder to a creditor of Henrik Sardariani and to a corporation controlled by the Sardariani brothers. Woods then took the $1.9 million for himself by arranging for it to be wired to a bank account in Los Angeles, which he had opened for himself just one day before the money had first been sent to Hong Kong. Once the money was in his sole control, he used it to pay for hotels, fancy restaurants, and luxury goods.

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