The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently charged a former produce vendor out of Wisconsin with three different tax crimes. The 63 year-old man was originally charged in June of 2017 with tax evasion, failure to file a corporate tax return and structuring currency transactions, according to documents from the DOJ.
The man charged with the crimes oversaw the finance and tax operations of the produce business. He was the subject of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Criminal Investigation team. The team gathered evidence through this investigation to support the charges.
Structuring currency transaction charges explained
The structuring currency transactions charge included accusations that the man adjusted the company’s income by manipulating cash deposits to show amounts under $10,000. The IRS states that this form of manipulation allegedly allowed the man to evade the bank’s reporting requirements. The government requires banks to report with the United States Treasury whenever there are deposits over $10,000. The government has accused the man of using this type of reporting manipulation to conceal the company’s income and avoid the reporting of over $400,000 in transactions.
Penalties for the charges
These types of charges can come with serious penalties. If convicted, the man faced up to ten years imprisonment for each structuring count, five years for each tax evasion charge and one year for each failure to file charge.
The Department of Justice released the holding in this case earlier this week. Ultimately, the accused admitted to “causing a tax loss between $250,000 and $550,000.” As a result, he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution of $421,621.99.
Important lesson for business owners and executives
Business owners and executives that find themselves the subject of this type of investigation by the IRS are wise to build a defense to help protect their rights. An attorney can help.
