Now that filing season is done, many tax professionals are taking a well-deserved break – but the IRS warns that tax scammers work all year long. Spear phishing was featured on this year’s “Dirty Dozen” list of common scams for tax professionals to be aware of. Spear...
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Tax Crimes
Cheesesteak Restaurant Owners Plead Guilty to Tax Conspiracy
For more than a decade, two owners of Tony Luke’s Philadelphia Cheesesteak Restaurant paid employees partially in cash in order to defraud the IRS by reporting and paying lower payroll taxes. They were also charged with conspiracy to defraud the government by...
California Man Found Decades After Evading the IRS
In December 2000, Robin J. McPherson, formerly of San Diego, plead guilty of conspiring to defraud the IRS, and for tax evasion. McPherson was the President, CEO, and co-owner of Continental Wireless Cable, Inc., a telemarketing company that sold more than $30...
Cannabis Property Seized By State Now Up for Sale
Last month the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) auctioned off two properties seized due to illegal cannabis sales. One of the properties, in Whittier, owes over $850,000 in taxes to the state which the CDTFA hopes to recover from its...
New Department of Justice National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team
With the increased popularity of cryptocurrency, comes the rise of cybercrimes. Cryptocurrency can and is being exploited by criminals using ransomware, hacking tools, and extortion schemes. The Justice Department has created the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement...
California Businessman Indicted on Tax Charges
The importance of paying over employment taxes cannot be overstated. Larry Kudsk, a Berkeley construction businessman, learned this the hard way recently when he was indicted on seven counts of failing to pay over employment taxes he withheld from employee’s...
IRS Top 10 Criminal Cases of 2021
From bitcoin exchange owners to a former pastor, the IRS identifies the top 10 criminal cases of 2021 which includes frauds that were committed against charitable organizations, unsuspecting consumers of solar products, illegal investment scams known as Ponzi schemes,...
Tax Fraud Teacher Charged
Traci Austin, the owner of Emeryville Tax Services in Brentwood, California, has been charged with not only preparing fraudulent tax returns for her clients, but also teaching students how to manipulate returns for profit as well. Austin allegedly charged her students...
Employment Tax Fraud Remains Top Priority of DOJ
Last week, the Department of Justice reported on several employment tax fraud cases. In Virginia, James C. Jones, Jr., an ambulance business owner, was arraigned and charged with multiple crimes including tax evasion and filing false tax returns. Mr. Jones allegedly...
South Dakota – the New Switzerland for Bank Secrecy?
Switzerland, Singapore, and South Dakota all have something in common…these jurisdictions are favored by the extremely wealthy for bank secrecy, which often includes tax evasion, money laundering, and other crimes including worker exploitation. In 2014, Trident Trust...