Tax Enforcement

June 13, 2022

Akrum Alrahab will spend 5 years in prison and pay over $10 million for providing untaxed Other Tobacco Products to a series of individuals and businesses operating in California, resulting in over $10 million in lost excise tax revenue for the State of California. USAO EDCA

April 12, 2022

Aaron Aqueron of Florida has been sentenced to 4 years in prison and ordered to pay $5.9 million in restitution to the IRS for promoting a nationwide scheme that caused more than $7.6 million in fraudulent tax refund claims to be filed.  The scheme involved convincing more than 200 participants in at least 19 states that they were entitled to tax refunds due to debt, then using the participants’ financial information to prepare tax returns with false information.  Two other co-conspirators, Iran Backstrom and Mehef Bey, were sentenced to more than 8 years and 11 years in prison respectively.  USAO MDFL

March 10, 2022

The founders of cryptocurrency company Bitqyck, Bruce Bise and Samuel Mendez, have been sentenced to 8 years in prison for tax evasion, two years after an $8 million settlement with the SEC for charges of defrauding over 13,000 investors of $24 million.  According to the DOJ press release, Bise and Mendex each diverted over $4 million of investor funds for personal expenses, then underreported their income and failed to file corporate tax returns for Bitqyck.  USAO NDTX

January 26, 2022

Todd Kozel was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $29.5 million to the IRS following his guilty plea on tax charges.  Kozel worked abroad as the CEO of an oil company with operations in Iraq, earning compensation in excess of $66 million.  However, Kozel failed to file personal federal income tax returns, using sophisticated offshore structures, trusts, and bank accounts to conceal undeclared income from the U.S. government.  SDNY

January 11, 2022

A man who orchestrated a $10 million tobacco excise tax evasion scheme against the State of Washington, engaged in money-laundering, and evaded $850,000 in federal income taxes has been sentenced to a little over 2 years in prison and ordered to pay $5 million in restitution.  Through his company, TC MAC, Hyung Il Kwon of Nevada purchased significant quantities of tobacco in cash, failed to report the purchases to the state, and subsequently resold the products for cash.  In order to avoid alerting the state to large cash deposits, Kwon then laundered the money by writing checks in exchange for large amounts of cash.  Kwon has a prior state conviction for similar charges.  USAO WDWA

January 10, 2022

Following his guilty plea on charges related to the filing of false tax returns claiming nonexistent fuel tax credits, Michael Dexter Little was ordered to forfeit $12.3 million and sentenced to 19.5 years in prison.  Little and his fellow fraudsters filed false tax returns in their own names and in the names of identity theft victims, and laundered the proceeds via real estate and other assets. USAO MDFL

January 4, 2022

A rabbi who was shot at an attack on a San Diego synagogue in April 2019 has been sentenced to 14 months in prison and ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution for defrauding the IRS, several Fortune 500 companies, and multiple public and private agencies.  In exchange for a 10% cut, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein provided fake donation receipts from the Chabad of Poway that helped co-conspirators claim illegal tax deductions or pocket matching donations from their employers.  He also let his brother, Mendel Goldstein, conceal income from the IRS by allowing him to deposit nearly $1 million in bank accounts belonging to the Chabad.  Lastly, with co-conspirator Alexander Avergoon, the rabbi used false information and fake records to fraudulently apply for emergency funds, grants, and loans from FEMA, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and private foundations.  USAO SDCA

December 20, 2021

James Tarpey, an attorney and principal in Project Philanthropy Inc. dba Donate for Cause (DFC), has been ordered to pay $8.5 million in penalties for promoting a tax shelter with claims that timeshare owners could donate their unwanted timeshare interests to DFC and receive tax benefits in return.  Tarpey and his agents prepared appraisals on donated timeshares, despite lacking sufficient independence and knowing that his false appraisals resulted in tax avoidance.  DOJ

December 13, 2021

Following his conviction at trial on tax fraud charges, John Barry Jr. was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay $4.2 million in restitution.  According to evidence at trial, Barry promoted a “mortgage recovery” tax scheme, telling clients that they could extinguish mortgage debts by filing false forms with the IRS claiming that a large amount of taxes had been withheld.  These false withholding claims caused the IRS to issue more than $4 million in refunds to Barry’s clients; Barry typically charged each client a fee of between 20% to 35% of the refund obtained.  DOJ

August 27, 2021

Prithviraj “Roger” Bhikha, a former Senior Director of Global Supplier Management at Cisco Systems, Inc. was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $2.5 million to the IRS following his guilty plea on charges arising from his receipt of kickbacks from Cisco vendors, his creation of a front company that billed $10 million in services to Cisco while concealing his role, and his failure to report more than $9 million in income to the IRS.  Bhikha was also ordered to pay $1.15 million to Cisco, and forfeited to pieces of real estate in San Francisco.  IRS; USAO ND Cal