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Tax Enforcement Actions

					
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States agency with primary responsibility for enforcing federal tax laws, working with the Department of Justice. Whistleblowers with knowledge of violations of the federal tax laws can submit a claim to the IRS under the IRS Whistleblower Reward Program, and may be eligible to receive a monetary reward.


Below are summaries of recently-announced settlements or successful prosecutions by the IRS or DOJ. If you believe you have information about fraud or wrongful conduct which could give  rise to a claim under the IRS Whistleblower Reward Program, please contact us to speak with one of our experienced whistleblower attorneys.

				

			

			
						
					
			

	
		
		

			

				
				
March 22, 2017

				 A grand jury in Baltimore, Maryland returned an indictment on March 9, charging a chiropractor with one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and six counts of filing false tax returns, announced the Justice Department’s Tax Division. According to the indictment, Dr. Warren Gregory Belcher, a resident of Salisbury, Maryland, operated a chiropractic business for nearly 20 years. During that time, he received income for chiropractic services from insurance companies, patients and other third parties, including another chiropractor in Baltimore. The indictment alleges that for the years 2009 through 2015, Belcher filed false individual income tax returns on which he failed to report that he operated a chiropractic business and falsely claimed that he had earned $0 in business income. The indictment further alleges that between 2008 and 2015, Belcher submitted approximately 79 letters to insurance companies and other third parties in which he threatened that the companies could be subject to civil and criminal penalties for reporting his income to the IRS on a Form 1099-MISC. A Form 1099-MISC is a tax form that is used to report certain types of income to the IRS, including payments for services performed by someone who is not an employee and medical and health care payments. Belcher also made threatening statements to an accountant to prevent the accountant from reporting his income to the government. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 13, 2017

				 A Los Angeles, California businessman was sentenced to 24 months in prison for hiding more than $23.5 million in offshore bank accounts. According to court documents, Masud Sarshar, a U.S. citizen, maintained several undeclared bank accounts at Bank Leumi and two other Israeli banks, both in his name and in the names of entities that he created. Sarshar owned and operated Apparel Limited Inc., a business that designed, manufactured and sold clothing and other apparel. For decades, with the assistance of at least two relationship managers from Bank Leumi and a second Israeli bank (Israeli Bank A), Sarshar hid tens of millions of dollars in assets in these accounts in an effort to conceal income and obstruct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Between 2006 and 2009, Sarshar diverted more than $21 million in untaxed gross business income to those undeclared accounts and earned more than $2.5 million in interest income from the funds. Sarshar reported none of this income on his 2006 through 2012 individual and corporate tax returns. He also filed false Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, commonly known as FBARs, with the U.S. Department of Treasury on which he omitted his ownership and control of these offshore accounts. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Abusive Tax Shelters, 
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 9, 2017

				 A federal court in Spokane, Washington found Dr. James Hood, a dentist, and his wife, Karen Hood, in contempt for violating the Court’s previous permanent injunction requiring them to timely file payroll tax returns and pay payroll taxes, announced the Justice Department’s Tax Division. The Court ordered the Hoods to close their dental care businesses, cease operating as employers, and barred them from opening any new businesses where the Hoods would serve as employers. On March 8, U.S. District Court Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson for the Eastern District of Washington found James Hood and Karen Hood in contempt after they demonstrated a consistent pattern of disregarding their tax obligations by making incomplete employment tax payments, making dishonored payments, and missing deadlines. The Court had previously entered a permanent injunction requiring James and Karen Hood, and their entities, to comply with the federal employment tax laws. According to the United States’ supplemental filing in the case, the Hoods had failed to show full compliance with the tax laws and the Court’s injunction by Jan. 31, as the Court had ordered. The court found that, the Hoods had failed to pay their taxes for the Fourth Quarter 2016 by the end of January 2017. The court also found that the Hoods had attempted to make payroll tax payments that were dishonored due to insufficient funds in their accounts. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Employment Tax Fraud, 
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
March 6, 2017

				 Two Louisiana attorneys pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to willfully failing to file federal tax returns. According to documents filed with the court, James Lynden Burton, 48, and his ex-wife, Lucretia Pecantte-Burton, 50, of New Iberia, Louisiana, are licensed attorneys and were partners of the law firm of Pecantte-Burton & Burton (PB&B). PB&B offered general legal services and representation and regularly received cash payments from clients for legal services rendered. They also had a partnership interest in a tax return preparation business. For tax years 2007, 2008 and 2009, Burton and Pecantte-Burton did not file individual income tax returns despite earning income from their law practice and the tax return preparation business. They filed delinquent returns after learning that they were under criminal investigation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 22, 2017

				 A Texas resident was sentenced to serve 22 months in prison for preparing false tax returns. According to documents filed with the court, Lourdes Ramirez, a Mexico national unlawfully residing in the United States, operated TX ASAP Tax Services and Fiesta Tax Service located in Greenville. From 2011 through 2014, Ramirez prepared approximately 1,163 federal tax returns that included fraudulent business income, losses, credits and deductions and sought refunds to which her clients were not entitled. Ramirez intended to cause a tax loss of approximately $1,155,383. In addition to the term of prison imposed, Ramirez was ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay $128,958.85 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by District Judge Ed Kinkeade. Judge Kinkeade also ordered Ramirez removed from the United States to Mexico following her sentence. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 22, 2017

				 A Texas resident was sentenced to serve 22 months in prison for preparing false tax returns. According to documents filed with the court, Lourdes Ramirez, a Mexico national unlawfully residing in the United States, operated TX ASAP Tax Services and Fiesta Tax Service located in Greenville. From 2011 through 2014, Ramirez prepared approximately 1,163 federal tax returns that included fraudulent business income, losses, credits and deductions and sought refunds to which her clients were not entitled. Ramirez intended to cause a tax loss of approximately $1,155,383. In addition to the term of prison imposed, Ramirez was ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay $128,958.85 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by District Judge Ed Kinkeade. Judge Kinkeade also ordered Ramirez removed from the United States to Mexico following her sentence. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 22, 2016

				 The Justice Department filed a lawsuit asking a federal district court in Houston, Texas, to permanently bar two men from preparing false tax returns.  The defendants named in the lawsuit are John E. Carter, individually and doing business as Midwestern Financial Group Inc., and Sulayman Mamadou Jarra, individually and doing business as African Art Appraisal Services. According to the complaint, Carter promoted a tax evasion scheme to his clients, telling them they could reduce their federal tax liability by supposedly donating African tribal art to an educational institution or museum.  The complaint states that Carter provided his clients with an appraisal by Jarra that substantially overvalued the art, and that for many of the returns, the signature was forged on the Internal Revenue Service form where the institution purportedly acknowledged receipt of the art.  DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Tax Credit and Deduction Fraud, 
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 17, 2017

				 Three people were found guilty by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of federal charges for participating in a scheme to file false federal income tax returns in order to fraudulently obtain tax refunds to which they were not entitled. All three defendants were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government funds and to defraud the United States. According to the government’s evidence, members of the conspiracy participated in a massive and sophisticated stolen identity refund fraud scheme that involved an extensive network of more than 130 people, many of whom were receiving public assistance. The conspirators fraudulently claimed refunds for tax years 2005 through 2012, often in the names of people whose identities had been stolen, including the elderly, people in assisted living facilities, drug addicts and incarcerated prisoners. Returns were also filed in the names of, and refunds were issued to, willing participants in the scheme. The returns filed listed more than 400 “taxpayer” addresses located in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 17, 2017

				 Three people were found guilty by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of federal charges for participating in a scheme to file false federal income tax returns in order to fraudulently obtain tax refunds to which they were not entitled. All three defendants were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government funds and to defraud the United States. According to the government’s evidence, members of the conspiracy participated in a massive and sophisticated stolen identity refund fraud scheme that involved an extensive network of more than 130 people, many of whom were receiving public assistance. The conspirators fraudulently claimed refunds for tax years 2005 through 2012, often in the names of people whose identities had been stolen, including the elderly, people in assisted living facilities, drug addicts and incarcerated prisoners. Returns were also filed in the names of, and refunds were issued to, willing participants in the scheme. The returns filed listed more than 400 “taxpayer” addresses located in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			




	
		
		

			

				
				
February 10, 2017

				 A now retired business school professor, who amassed a $220 million fortune in secret foreign accounts, was sentenced to seven months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and to submit a false expatriation statement to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He also has been assessed and paid a $100 million civil penalty for his concealment of these accounts. According to documents filed with the court and statements made during the sentencing hearing, Dan Horsky, 71, formerly of Rochester, New York, is a citizen of the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel who served for more than 30 years as a professor of business administration at a university located in New York. Beginning in approximately 1995, Horsky invested in numerous start-up companies, virtually all of which failed. One investment in a business referred to as Company A, however, succeeded spectacularly. In 2000, Horsky transferred his investments into a nominee account in the name of “Horsky Holdings” at an offshore bank in Zurich, Switzerland (the “Swiss Bank”) to conceal his financial transactions and accounts from the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department. DOJ				 					 

						
Tagged in:
													  Tax Fraud, 
												
						

					
	
							
	
		
		
	


 			


											

						

								

									
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