obÌåÓý

August 16, 2023 ¡ª United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on August 15, 2023, U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan sentenced Cornel Martin, Sr. of Thibodaux, Louisiana, to serve 12 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, for failing to account for and pay over federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (¡°FICA¡±) taxes, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7202. Judge Morgan also ordered that Martin pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (¡°IRS¡±) in the amount of $2,681,379.96, and imposed a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.

August 16, 2022 ¡ª Two members of a Myrtle Beach family were sentenced to federal prison, and a third to probation, for their roles in a scheme to defraud the Government out of more than $500,000 by submitting false tax returns, and by stealing economic impact payments sent to others as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Specifically, Donna Karakatsani was sentenced to two years in prison while her son, Ivo Krasimirov Ivanov was sentenced to a year and a half in prison. Todor Milkov Stoenchev, Karakatsani's husband and Ivanov's stepfather, was sentenced to five years of probation given his more limited role in the scheme.

December 4, 2023 ¡ª Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Stuart M. Goldberg, the Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Matters of the Justice Department¡¯s Tax Division, and Jim Lee, the Chief of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI), announced today the filing of criminal charges against Swiss Bank, Banque Pictet et Cie SA (¡°Banque Pictet¡± or the ¡°Bank¡±) for conspiring with U.S. taxpayers and others to hide more than $5.6 billion in 1,637 secret bank accounts in Switzerland and elsewhere and to conceal the income generated in those accounts from the IRS.

April 3, 2024 ¡ª A federal grand jury has charged two defendants with various crimes, including one defendant with extortion and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley of the Oakland Field Office; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), San Francisco Field Division, Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp; and San Francisco Division Postal Inspector in Charge Rafael Nu?ez.

December 13, 2022 ¡ª A Spanaway, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison for his key role in a large drug distribution ring, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Dwayne Douglas George was indicted in November 2021, along with 16 other defendants. George distributed significant amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl in Western Washington, and acted as a courier, bringing large amounts of drugs to the northwest from California. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour noted "the large amount of methamphetamine and fentanyl in the case. Both are extremely dangerous and caused a lot of damage in this community."

Jan. 24, 2024 ¡ª Tony Tan was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in connection with his sale of counterfeit Adderall pills pressed with methamphetamine on the dark web, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Oakland Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), San Francisco Field Division, Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark; and San Francisco Division Postal Inspector in Charge Rafael Nu?ez. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. Richard Seeborg, Chief United States District Judge.

March 19, 2024 ¡ª Felipe de Jesus Ornelas Mora, the owner of Rincon Musical, a money transmitting business in Oakland, was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison following his conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering, announced First Assistant United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins; IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley of the Oakland Field Office; and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), San Francisco Field Division, Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. Jeffrey S. White, Senior United States District Judge.

March 28, 2025 ¡ª IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) released investigative statistics March 28 highlighting how the agency uses Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data to investigate financial crimes. During the previous three fiscal years 2022-2024 (FY22-24), 87.3% of IRS-CI¡¯s criminal investigations recommended for prosecution had a primary subject with a related BSA filing, and adjudicated cases resulted in a 97.3% conviction rate with defendants receiving average prison sentences of 37 months. IRS-CI also used BSA data to identify $21.1 billion in fraud tied to tax and financial crimes, seize $8.2 billion in assets tied to criminal activity, and obtain $1.4 billion in restitution for crime victims.

March 26, 2025 ¡ª The former controller of a Shelton, Washington, outdoor equipment company was sentenced today to 12 months and one day in prison and three years of supervised release for his embezzlement scheme that stole more than $665,000 from the company, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Jesse Arden Sherman of Elma, Washington illegally diverted company funds to his own accounts between 2012 and 2018. In addition, Sherman failed to pay taxes on his ill-gotten gain, resulting in a tax debt of $202,196. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright emphasized the economic and non-economic losses experienced by the victim company and its employees.

December 14, 2023 ¡ª Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Thomas Fattorusso, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (CI), Naomi Gruchacz, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ¨C Office of the Inspector General ("HHS-OIG"), and Erin Keegan, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI"), announced the unsealing of an Indictment today charging Niranjan Mittal, a Brooklyn-based cardiologist, in connection with a scheme to fabricate patient records, pay physicians for patient referrals, and bill for medically unnecessary vascular procedures.