On February 24, 2010, in Miami, Fla., Jesus Mena was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay $391,714 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. Mena pleaded guilty on December 14, 2009 to filing a false U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation. According to court documents, Mena was the owner of Destiny Erectors, Inc., a construction company in Miami, Florida, that provided labor for the installation of steel concrete reinforcing bars.
Archive for the ‘Collection Nightmares’ Category
Miami Resident Sentenced for Filing a False Tax Return
Thursday, October 20th, 2011Government Contractor Sentenced for Failing to File Tax Returns for Four Years
Monday, September 26th, 2011On December 20, 2010, in Baltimore, Md., Joseph Van Gieson, of Annapolis, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, of which six months is to be served in home detention, followed by one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $4,000 fine. According to court documents, since 2003, he worked as a self-employed consultant for the United States Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency. From 2003 through 2006, he and his wife received gross income of $851,747, and incurred a tax liability of $214,794. Van Gieson requested, and was granted, extensions for filing his federal tax returns for years 2003 through 2005, but he did not file a tax return for any of those years.
Indiana Construction Company Owner Sentenced for Tax Evasion
Monday, September 19th, 2011On July 1, 2010, in Indianapolis, Ind., David W. Pittman, of Greenwood, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, 18 months’ home detention and two years of supervised release following his plea of guilty to income tax evasion. He must also cooperate with the IRS in determining his income tax liabilities. Pittman, the owner/operator of Pittman Framing, a residential construction framing company, failed to file income tax returns for the years 1994 through 1998. The IRS assessed the income tax owed by Pittman for each of these years, but he took steps to evade the payment of these assessed taxes. The total income tax deficiency owed by Pittman is approximately $497,000. Pittman also failed to file income tax returns for the years 2003 through 2005 and 2007. The total income owed by Pittman for those years approximately $48,000.
Two Defendants Sentenced in $1.2 Million Money Laundering Scheme
Monday, August 8th, 2011On October 26, 2010, in Charlotte, N.C., Donald Eugene Bess, of Bessemer City, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay $549,789 in restitution. On June 7, 2010, Ray Eugene Rohm, of Dallas, North Carolina, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay $842,288 in restitution. In addition, each defendant was ordered to forfeit all property involved in the money laundering conspiracy. According to court documents, Rohm owned and operated Rohm Enterprises, a window treatment services business and Bess operated a body shop business named Bess Used Car Wrecker Service. From in or about April 2001 to in or about January 2007, both deposited into their respective business accounts $1.2 million in fraudulently obtained checks generated by a former claims manager of Farm Bureau Insurance. Although they’re aware that the checks were obtained through an insurance fraud scheme, they deposited the checks on his behalf & collected a fee in return for conducting the financial transaction.
Illinois Man Sentenced for Income Tax Evasion
Monday, July 25th, 2011On September, 30, 2010 in Fairview Heights, Ill., Orvil Hassebrock was sentenced to 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution and fines of more than $1.71 million for failing to file tax returns. According to court documents, Hassebrock was convicted on April 29, 2010, for willfully attempting to evade and defeat the assessment and payment of income tax for 2004 and willful failure to file an income tax return resulting in a tax loss to the IRS of nearly $594,000. Hassebrock’s restitution includes back taxes, interest, fines and a special assessment.
Indiana Construction Company Owner Sentenced for Tax Evasion
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011On July 1, 2010, in Indianapolis, Ind., David W. Pittman, of Greenwood, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, 18 months home detention and two years of supervised release following his plea of guilty to income tax evasion. He must also cooperate with the IRS in determining his income tax liabilities. Pittman, the owner/operator of Pittman Framing, a residential construction framing company, failed to file income tax returns for the years 1994 through 1998. The IRS assessed the income tax owed by Pittman for each of these years, but he took steps to evade the payment of these assessed taxes. The total income tax deficiency owed by Pittman is approximately $497,000. Pittman also failed to file income tax returns for the years 2003 through 2005, and 2007. The total income owed by Pittman for those years is approximately $48,000.
Ohio Physician Sentenced for Failing to File Income
Monday, January 24th, 2011On August 6, 2010, in Dayton, Ohio, Dominic Joseph Maga, a physician, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and ordered to pay $160,955 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A federal court jury convicted Maga on August 6, 2009 of five counts of failure to file income tax returns disclosing more than $1.1 million in income from hospitals. According to court documents, Maga was an emergency room doctor employed at Grandview Medical Center and Southview Hospital, as well as Riverside Hospital and Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. Trial evidence showed that Maga failed to file federal income tax returns disclosing $1,159,431 in income for tax years 2002 through 2006.
Florida Dentist Sentenced to 42 Months for Income Tax Evasion
Monday, January 10th, 2011On August 19, 2010, in Ocala, Fla., Mark S. Maggert, of Fruitland Park, was sentenced to 42 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service to pay all taxes due and owing, as well as applicable interest and penalties. Maggert was found guilty by a jury on March 18, 2010 on tax evasion charges. According to trial evidence, in calendar years 2002 through 2005, Maggert, a dentist, received taxable income of more than $900,000 but failed to file any income tax returns or pay any income taxes. Maggert also utilized nominee companies for the purpose of concealing his income and assets, made withdrawals from the companies in the form of checks to cash, and filed documents with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) designed to impair the IRS’s ability to assess and collect the taxes he owed.
Minnesota Woman Sentenced for Failing to Pay Employment Taxes
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010On April 20, 2009, in St. Paul, Minn., Kara Kristine Sommer, of Burnsville, Minn., was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for failing to pay the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) payroll taxes from employees of a construction business. According to her plea agreement, Sommer admitted withholding or causing to be withheld amounts for federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes from the wages of employees of Frontier Construction, Inc., located in Burnsville, from April 1, 2002, through Sept. 30, 2006.
Sommer was responsible for accounting, payroll management and income taxes for Frontier Construction. Her duties included withholding federal payroll taxes from employee paychecks and paying over the withheld taxes to the IRS. From April 1, 2002, to September 30, 2006, Sommer deducted and collected federal income taxes and FICA taxes from the taxable wages of Frontier employees. Sommer admitted that during the tax years of 2001 through 2005, she willfully failed to account for and to pay over to the IRS a total amount of taxes of nearly $200,000.
First of Eight Taqueria Arandas Restaurant Owners Sentenced for Filing False Income Tax Returns
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010On April 8, 2009, in Houston, Texas, Carlos Garcia was sentenced to a year and one day in federal prison and ordered to pay $245,786 in restitution above the $700,000 already paid for filing false income tax returns for Taqueria Arandas No. 12 Inc., through which he operated a restaurant at 10403-A Gulf Freeway in Houston. Garcia pleaded guilty on October 24, 2008, admitting in pleadings filed that day that he had filed Corporate Income Tax Returns for Taqueria Arandas No. 12 Inc., for tax years 2001 through 2004 that under-reported sales by approximately $2,813,156. He also admitted that, as a result, he and his corporation underpaid income taxes by approximately $945,786. Prior to his sentencing, Garcia paid the Internal Revenue Service $700,000 in delinquent taxes. Garcia is the first of eight local Taqueria Arnadas Restaurant owners to be sentenced.