Those that have recently been charged with tax evasion don’t all look alike. As of late we have seen men and women, the young and elderly, the middle and upper class and Americans ranging from executives to entry-level employees. It goes to show that the IRS and the Department of Justice aren’t discriminating on whom they try to throw in jail for tax evasion or other related crimes.
The latest to feel the brute force of the DOJ is a former real estate broker and local business owner from Washington County, Minnesota. Bartolomea Montanari was charged with tax evasion and wire-fraud (to name a few) last week. Montanari’s illegal actions were all over the place, ranging from failing to pay employment taxes to setting up a shell corporation to avoid paying taxes to making misleading statements to the IRS Criminal Investigations Division.
According to the complaint, Montanari failed to pay employment taxes that were due for three companies that he owned and controlled. Further, he failed to pay Trust Fund Recovery Penalties (TFRP) for those businesses. It was alleged that over $700,000 in employment taxes and TFRP’s went unpaid. To make matters worse, Montanari transferred over $1 million to a shell corporation and lied to the IRS about the details of the shell corporation, among other things.
Other charges include wire and mail fraud that is linked to a scheme aimed at defrauding a business partner and a business lender in the purchase of a bulldozer.
If convicted on all of the counts, Montanari is likely to spend a decent amount of time in a federal prison. He, like many Americans most likely believed that they were above the law and that the government would never find out about any of his wrongdoing. It is a common belief among some taxpayers that is landing several of them in a federal prison.
It is very easy to organize your affairs in a way that are beneficial to you and your bottom line. Unfortunately, some of those methods are illegal and will drive the IRS to your front door and may very well send you to a federal prison. A criminal investigation by the IRS can be a scary and complicated ordeal. Our firm has years of experience dealing with the Criminal Investigations Division of the IRS and their tactics.
If you are a business owner and are either already being investigated by the IRS or would like an experienced tax attorney to review the way that your business handles its taxes and other payroll items, contact the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing. Let us help you before you are in handcuffs and calling us from jail.
