Conspiracy to Defraud by Filing Falsified Returns

On the main topic page of this category of Tax Fraud, personal and small business tax evasion was explored and described.

This page will address the more serious charge of filing massive amounts of fraudulent tax returns for the purpose of personal gain or concealing unpaid tax liabilities by not declaring large sums of revenue and payments.

These types of tax frauds are usually tried by their underlying crime such as wire fraud, identity theft, money laundering and other serious offenses where a conviction can result in prison terms of up to possible statutory sentences of twenty years or more in federal prison for each count.

The best way to describe this type of tax fraud is to demonstrate some recent cases that illustrate these crimes. If you have knowledge that an investigation of these serious matters applies to you or someone you care about you should call the office of Fort Lauderdale Tax Fraud Attorney Michael B. Cohen at the earliest stage of your knowledge of such an investigation.

In the News
One of the most famous recent cases on this topic that was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) was the 2015 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA, The international governing body of association football) case which yielded a forty-seven count indictment against fourteen current and former leaders of the organization.

The criminal investigation began when the IRS-CI looked into former Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) General Secretary Chuck Blazer for not filing his personal tax returns.

The investigative Body then put a case together pressuring Blazer into cooperating with them which in due course led to helping them build their case against him and other FIFA officials.

This concluded with nine FIFA officials and five sports marketing executives being arrested by Swiss police for widespread corruption; accusing the officials of bribes in connection for exchange of support for their countries’ bids to host future Soccer World Cups.

Other charges filed included racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering, all put together from the original tax fraud investigation of General Secretary Blazer.

The Swiss arrest for the FIFA crimes was requested by the U.S. Department of Justice citing that the crimes fell under U.S. jurisdiction due to the fact that they were planned in the United States and carried out through American banks.

This action was followed by a Ninety-two count superseding indictment unsealed in in Brooklyn, New York federal court, charging an additional sixteen suspects with money laundering conspiracies, wire fraud, and racketeering, among other offenses, linked to the original Indictment in connection with participation in a twenty-four year scheme to enrich themselves through the exploitation of international soccer.

A knowledgeable federal Tax Fraud Attorney located in Fort Lauderdale is essential if you are facing any types of charges close to this magnitude or if you are aware that an investigation for these types of allegations has been opened.

More recently, late last spring (May, 2017) the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation’s Unit (IRS-CI) charged an owner of a tax preparation business and one of his employees with filing hundreds of bogus tax returns, requesting and receiving close to $4,000,000 in falsified refunds.

Corry Pearson, of Riviera Beach, and Stephane Anor, of West Palm Beach, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud; wire fraud; and aggravated identity theft. Pearson was also charged with money laundering.

According to the indictment, Pearson owned a tax preparation business named Tax King, Inc. Anor was an employee of the firm. During tax years 2012 and 2013, with the assistance of Ms. Anor, Pearson electronically filed more than eight hundred falsified income tax returns.

The defendants also stole client’s identities as well as prison inmates and filed returns in their names, accumulating the refunds for their own personal gain. The defendants also filed and inflated amounts of these documents. Other instances showed that the filed returns falsely reported that money had been withheld from taxpayer’s gambling winnings and wages. The two defendants also falsely claimed education credits that the taxpayers were not entitled to.

In total, the returns filed applied for an estimated $3,747,125 in duplicitous refunds.

Early last month (Oct. 2017) Pearson was found guilty in his trial by jury to sixteen counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of aggravated identity theft and four combined counts of money laundering under two statutes.

He is scheduled for sentencing on December 19, 2017 in Miami U.S. District Court.

His combined maximum possible statutory sentence can be up to twenty years in prison for the conspiracy to commit wire fraud conviction, twenty years in prison for each count of wire fraud, twenty years in prison for each count of money laundering, Ten years in prison for each count of money laundering, and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for each count of aggravated identity theft.

His employee, Stephane Anor pled guilty earlier this summer to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Her sentencing is scheduled for later this month (November, 2017).

In addition to the case being investigated by the IRS-CI, the West Palm Beach and Jupiter police departments were also involved in the investigation.

As you can see by doing simple math, Mr. Pearson is basically facing a life sentence for his serious misdeeds. A Fort Lauderdale Tax Fraud Attorney may have been able to knock down the charges by virtue of a plea agreement. However, it’s hard to say why Mr. Pearson chose to be tried by a jury of his peers. It’s possible that based on overwhelming evidence the prosecution refused to offer a deal.

Ms. Anor’s sentence will be much lighter mainly because she cooperated with the prosecution.

The Fort Lauderdale Tax Fraud law Offices of Michael B. Cohen, Esq. specializes in federal criminal defense. If you or someone important to you is facing charges that mirror those of the story above, it’s greatly to the benefit of anyone involved to contact Mr. Cohen as quickly as possible.

His extensive previous work as an Assistant Federal Prosecutor gives him a major advantage when defending clients who are facing punishing federal charges.

If you live in South Florida and are facing federal charges, call Mr. Cohen today. He can be reached through his Fort Lauderdale Office twenty-four hours a day/seven days a week.