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July 5, 2022 ¡ª Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Leon Miles was sentenced by United States District Judge Brian M. Cogan to 72 months in prison following his guilty plea to making false statements in an application for over $1.9 million from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which Congress created as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The court also ordered forfeiture in the amount of $1,904,593, including the 2020 Bentley that the government seized, and restitution in the amount of $598,299.39 to the authorized lender.

Publication 5392, The Art Advisory Panel of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue Annual Summary Report - The IRS Commissioner¡¯s Art Advisory Panel (the Panel) provides advice and makes recommendations to the Art Appraisal Services unit in the Independent Office of Appeals for the Internal Revenue Service. Chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Panel assists by providing value recommendations regarding the acceptability of tangible personal property appraisals taxpayers submit to support the fair market value claimed on the wide range of works of art involved in income, estate, and gift tax returns.

Jan. 14, 2025 ¡ª A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, has indicted Foster Dai, also known as Fa Dai, a dual citizen of China and the United States, on charges of filing false tax returns and failing to file a report of a foreign bank or financial account. The indictment was handed down on September 10, 2024, but unsealed this week. Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson, Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman with the IRS Criminal Investigation Atlanta Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown with the FBI Mobile, Alabama Field Office made the announcement.

July 14, 2023 ¡ª A successful consultant to Amazon third-party selling partners (3P Sellers) was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle for his participation in an international bribery scheme used to aid his clients, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Ephraim Rosenberg was sentenced to two years of probation, including a year of home confinement, and a $100,000 fine. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones noted that Rosenberg ¡°participated in the scheme for a period of three years. You stopped because you got caught by law enforcement.¡±

December 1, 2023 ¡ª A SeaTac, Washington, man was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison and three years of supervised release for a money laundering conviction related to his participation in a call center scheme to defraud elderly victims across the country, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Arifkhan Pathan was arrested on January 4, 2021. Between August 2020 and January 2021, Pathan played a key role in defrauding 28 victims of more than $700,000. The restitution amount will be determined by U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik at a later date.

December 21, 2023 ¡ª Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Stuart M. Goldberg, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department¡¯s Tax Division, announced that Rolf Schnellmann, a Swiss former executive, pled guilty today to conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with a scheme to help high-value U.S. taxpayer-clients conceal more than $60 million in income and assets held in undeclared, offshore bank accounts and to evade U.S. income taxes. Schnellmann pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods.

August 16, 2022 ¡ª Moustapha Diakhate of Stamford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 42 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for fraudulent receiving more than $4 million in COVID-19 relief funds guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Judge Shea also ordered Diakhate to serve three months in home detention when he is released from prison, and to perform 75 hours of community service while on supervised release.

September 9, 2022 ¡ª Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, George Djurasevic pled guilty to bribery, in violation of the Travel Act, admitting that he accepted more than half-a-million dollars in bribe payments in his role as a manager of a company (the "Company") contracted by the New York City Water Board (NYCWB) to provide sewer and water pipe repair services to New York City homeowners. Djurasevic also pled guilty to tax evasion. Today's proceeding was held before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo. When sentenced, Djurasevic faces a total of 10 years in prison.

November 9, 2022 ¡ª A federal indictment was unsealed today following the arrest of three defendants and their initial appearances in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Kentucky. Phil Pascoe, of Floyds Knobs, Indiana, Monica Pascoe, of Floyds Knobs, Indiana; Scott Tubbs, of Georgetown, Kentucky; and Quadrant Magnetics LLC were charged with wire fraud, violations of the Arms Export Control Act, and smuggling of goods for their roles in an illegal scheme to send export-controlled defense-related technical data to China and to unlawfully supply U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) with Chinese-origin rare earth magnets for aviation systems and military items.

Jan. 16, 2025 ¡ª Judy Philips, Acting Attorney for the United States for the Eastern District of New York and Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York (IRS-CI), announced today that American Express Company (AMEX) has entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the U.S. Attorney¡¯s Office for the Eastern District of New York (the Office) and has agreed to pay more than $138 million for engaging in sales practices that provided inaccurate tax advice to customers and potential customers of AMEX for two wire products, Payroll Rewards and Premium Wire (PR/PW).