RAP sheet; shipping out; Pelicon; and other highlights of recent tax cases.
New York: Preparer Roberto Perez Ramirez, 59, of Hackensack, New Jersey, owner of the tax prep business RAP Tax Service in the Bronx, New York, has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false and fraudulent returns.
Through his prep business, Ramirez prepared and filed nearly 3,000 individual income tax returns on behalf of taxpayers for the tax years 2013 to 2016. On many of the returns, Ramirez falsely claimed dependents who were not dependents of the named taxpayers, fraudulently inflating refunds. He sometimes charged clients a $1,000 fee to add a false dependent.
He also reported false Schedule A deductions, such as gifts to charity or unreimbursed employee business expenses, and false Schedule C business expenses.
His scheme caused an estimated tax loss to the IRS of $3 million.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. Ramirez has agreed to pay $2,974,547 in restitution to the IRS. Sentencing is June 25.
Metairie, Louisiana: Shipping exec Deepak “Jack” Jagtiani has been sentenced to 63 months in prison for embezzling more than $7 million from his employer and for defrauding the government of more than $1 million in income taxes.
Jagtiani previously pleaded guilty to both counts of the indictment, which charged him with wire fraud and making false statements on a federal income tax return.
From 2007 to 2019 Jagtiani was comptroller of Dan-Gulf Shipping, a freight forwarding company. He had the authority to manage the payroll and other accounts for Dan-Gulf and admitted that he used his authority to pay himself excessive salaries and benefits from 2009 through early 2019.
In total, Jagtiani defrauded Dan-Gulf and its business partner of more than $7 million.
Jagtiani also admitted to filing false personal tax returns. For tax years 2014 to 2017, he claimed business losses through a fake catering business. In total, he claimed enough business losses to offset most of his income for which he would be required to pay federal income tax. Neither Jagtiani nor his spouse operated any catering business.
Jagtiani avoided paying a total of $1,232,267.00 in federal income taxes.
As to filing false returns, Jagtiani was sentenced to three years in prison and a year of supervised release. As to wire fraud, he was sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
Jagtiani must pay $1,232,267 in restitution to the IRS. He was also ordered to pay $7,077,137.36 in restitution to Dan-Gulf and a partner company.
Washington: Louisiana tax preparers Morgan Antoine and Jennifer Austin have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
In early 2015, Antoine and Austin conspired to file false returns for clients of Pelicans Income Tax and Payroll Service, a prep business in Kenner and Westwego, Louisiana. The two prepared client returns reporting false income and withholdings to generate larger refunds. Antoine also filed a fraudulent personal return that claimed a false dependent.
Antoine and Austin caused a tax loss totaling more than $550,000.
Sentencing is May 26. Antoine and Austin each face a maximum of five years in prison as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.
Stamford, Connecticut: Contractor Pavel Teply, 45, has pleaded guilty to a federal tax offense.
Teply owned and operated the remodeling and roofing company Five Stars Remodeling and for the 2013 through 2015 tax years used a preparer for his personal income tax returns. Teply provided his preparer with a schedule that underreported the gross receipts of his business, certain business expenses and his income. As a result, Teply’s returns for those tax years underreported his income, resulting in a tax loss of $175,812
He pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return, which carries a maximum of three years in prison. Sentencing is May 6.
Alexandria, Virginia: Dr. Arshad Pervez Cheema, formerly of Great Falls, Virginia, has pleaded guilty to willful failure to pay employment taxes.
From 2011 through 2018, Cheema owned and operated Walk-In Medical Center PC in Falls Church and Herndon, Virginia. He was responsible for collecting and paying federal payroll taxes. From 2012 to 2016, Cheema willfully did not pay some $500,000 in payroll taxes. Instead, he used some of the withheld funds for other business ventures, including opening and running a restaurant in Washington.
He also did not pay corporate taxes for Walk-In Medical Center PC, nor did he pay employment taxes for another doctor’s office, Falls Church Family Care PC, which he operated.
Cheema did not pay a total of some $2 million in employment and corporate taxes.
Sentencing is June 23, when Cheema faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and a fine.
Union, New Jersey: Contractor Olger Fallas, 49, has admitted to filing false returns that failed to report all his personal and corporate income.
Fallas, owner and operator of Olger Fallas Painting and Olger Fallas Properties, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with two counts of tax evasion. He admitted that he attempted to hide personal and corporate income from the IRS by using a check cashing business to cash customer payments, which he did not report. Fallas also admitted that he deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars in customer payments into bank accounts that were unassociated with his companies.
He admitted that he evaded paying some $1.7 million in personal and corporate income taxes during the scheme.
The counts of tax evasion each carry a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is June 22.
Glen Burnie, Maryland: Tarsha T. Warren, 48, has been convicted of two counts of filing a false income tax return.
For two years, Warren, who was not a registered tax preparer in Maryland, prepared and filed state income tax returns for a fee on behalf of numerous Maryland residents. Many of the returns included false information, which reduced her clients’ Maryland tax liabilities and improperly increased their state refunds.
She was sentenced to a year in jail, all suspended, and three years of probation. She is also prohibited from acting as a preparer and will pay $37,985 in restitution.
Virginia Beach, Virginia: Preparer Ryan Dalletezze, 42, has been sentenced to two years in prison for aiding and assisting the filing of fraudulent and false returns.
From 2013 to 2016 Dalletezze prepared returns through D&D Tax Services and was a “ghost preparer” who received money as a preparer but failed to report or identify himself on clients’ returns. He routinely claimed such false exemptions as education and business expenses, energy credits and business losses. His clients had no knowledge of the fraud, and Dalletezze received the resulting refunds and kept substantial portions for himself.
The scheme resulted in a tax loss of more than $291,000.
