Stanley H. Block’sIRS Times & Inquirer™Read About Taxpayers with IRS Problems & Learn Helpful Tips on How To End Them. |
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| Volume VIII, Issue 2 - www.mdtaxattorney.com |
Inside This Issue … |
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Doctor Charged with $2.4 Million in Tax EvasionA federal grand jury in Louisville, Ky., charged 58-year-old ophthalmologist Larry H. Joel with six counts of tax evasion, money laundering, and false statements to the Internal Revenue Service.The indictment alleges that Joel evaded roughly $2.4 million in income taxes. In 1991, Joel sold his interest in a process for making eyeglass lenses for nearly $17 million. After being audited by the IRS in 1995, Joel acknowledged that he owed $2.4 million in taxes. Between 1996 and 1999, the IRS made repeated attempts to assess Joel’s ability to pay the $2.4 million in taxes. Most recently, in April 1999, Joel claimed that he had no bank accounts, real property, securities, cash, vehicles, or other assets. Joel has made no payments on his taxes, the indictment alleges. The government alleges that Joel has used trusts to conceal his ownership of a 72-foot sport yacht and a residence in Lake Forest, Ky., purchased for $775,000 in 2002, as well as numerous motor vehicles. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison. USPS Employee Failed to File Tax ReturnsBeing a federal employee didn’t help 54-year-old Larry Emmett Brown, of Summertown, Tenn., make his tax problems go away.Last month, Brown, an employee of the United States Postal Service, was convicted on four counts of income tax evasion after a three-day trial. Evidence showed that even though he received more than $165,000 in wages from the USPS during the years 1998 to 2001, Brown had not filed income tax returns for those years. Instead, Brown had filed four W-4 Forms with the USPS claiming he was exempt from federal withholding. IRS witnesses testified that the tax liability owed by Brown for those years was approximately $24,000. Another witness testified that Brown admitted that he knew he was taking a risk by not filing tax returns. Prior to the start of the trial, the government filed a motion preventing Brown from raising any frivolous tax arguments. Declaring that these frivolous arguments are well-worn and not supported by case law, Judge Higgins granted the motion. In closing arguments, Brown admitted to the jury that he had not filed his tax returns. Miami Tax Evader Pleads GuiltyGuillermo “Billy” Freixas has pleaded guilty to all four counts of a federal indictment that alleged he failed to pay roughly $472,790 in federal income taxes.Freixas operated the Miami International Airport Trade and Business Development Office in Madrid, Spain, and Miami. He faces up to five years in prison on each count. Orange County Man Receives 15 Months for EvasionA Newport Coast, Calif., man who pleaded guilty to tax evasion for underreporting his 1999 income on his federal tax return has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and ordered to pay nearly a half-million dollars in back income taxes.Michael Sanford Avnaim, 57, the president and sole shareholder of South Coast Container, a privately held corporation, was sentenced to 15 months in prison. In addition to the prison term, he was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, as well pay $474,636 in back taxes, plus penalties. Kansas Man Sentenced on Tax Evasion ChargesIvan G. Carney, 54, of Peck, Kansas, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and fined $50,000 for tax fraud.Carney was found guilty Sept. 30 following a three-day jury trial on two counts of tax evasion. According to trial testimony, Carney, a self-employed chiropractor, willfully failed to file a tax return and concealed $48,347.73 in income during 1997 in an effort to avoid paying federal income taxes. Testimony also showed that in 1998 Carney willfully failed to file a tax return and concealed $146,489 in income. Seattle Man Failed to Report $1.8m in IncomeDavid Michaels Nguyen, 32, of Seattle, pleaded guilty to filing a false income tax return.Nguyen, as an officer of Apex General Services, signed the corporate tax return for 2002 stating the gross receipts for the company were just $46,823. In fact, Apex’s actual gross receipts were $1.8 million. For tax year 2001, Nguyen claimed $13,038 in gross receipts. The real amount: more than $1 million. Apex, which had about 60 employees, provided low-skilled, temporary employees for various businesses in Seattle. According to the plea agreement, Nguyen provided the company’s tax preparer only with information related to income that was deposited into and expenses that were paid out of the company bank account. Nguyen knew that most of the checks it received from its customers were not deposited but were simply cashed at various check-cashing establishments. Most employees were paid in cash, and their wages were not reported. Nguyen faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Institutionalized Man Made False Tax Claims to IRSWhile committed at the Minnesota Sexual Psychopathic Personality Treatment Center, Arthur Dale Senty-Haugen submitted dozens of false federal income tax returns for himself and for fictitious companies he created in an attempt to collect more than $168,000 in tax refunds.In January, Senty-Haugen, 37, pleaded guilty to five counts of false claims and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States of more than $120,000. From 1998 to 2002, Senty-Haugen created several fictitious businesses for which he filed false quarterly tax returns. In these returns, Senty-Haugen claimed that the fictitious businesses paid Advanced Earned Income Credit to numerous employees. The people Senty-Haugen claimed as “employees” on the returns were either deceased, inmates with whom he was incarcerated, or patients with Senty-Haugen at the Minnesota State Security Hospital. Ct. Woman Failed To File Tax ReturnMaureen Clark, 50, of Ansonia, Ct., pleaded guilty to willfully failing to file her federal income return for the year 1999. Clark earned more than $44,000 in 1999. She faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.St. Louis Woman Pleads Guilty to Filing False Income Tax ReturnSt. Louis resident Andrea Shanta Smith, 28, pleaded guilty to five felony counts of filing false income tax returns. On three occasions, Smith filed fraudulent W-2 forms claiming $11,743 in refunds. Additionally, Smith said she prepared false W-2 forms for two individuals, falsely claiming refunds. She faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. |
Learn how to avoid IRS problems and solve them if you find yourself with one!
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