Brian Perez, a 35-year-old former CPA, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for wire fraud and tax evasion, according to U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick.
Perez, who pleaded guilty on March 1, also received three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $162,755 in restitution to his employer and an additional $42,435.18 in criminal restitution to the IRS.
At the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Thorpe detailed prior thefts from a previous employer and additional thefts from another corporation affiliated with his current victim.
Family members testified about Perez’s lack of criminal history and asked that he be put on probation. The court, however, noted that probabtion was not appropriate, given the “significant amount of loss and harm to multiple victims occurring over several years.”
Funds fraudulently transferred to Perez’s tax withholding account at the IRS will be returned to victims. His tax refunds while he is in prison and under supervised release will also go to restitution for his victims.
Formerly of Corpus Christi but now of San Antonio, Texas, Perez admitted to orchestrating the fraudulent transfer of funds from his employer’s bank account to his personal tax withholding account. He also admitted that he filed a false income tax return and requested a refund of the overpayment. All told, between March and August 2015, Perez defrauded his employer of $162,755.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI conducted the investigation.
