Tax Resolution Times
July 22, 2020
Protecting YOUR Income and Assets since 1991
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Patrick T. Sheehan, Esq.
Former IRS Attorney
President of IRS Trouble Solvers ® |
The federal tax filing and payment deadline has passed and the US Attorney’s Office and IRS warn residents to be on the lookout for scam artists regarding tax returns. According to a joint statement from United States Attorney from the Southern District of Iowa, Marc Krickbaum, and IRS Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge, Adam Steiner, scammers are hard at work looking for ways to steal personal information and money, and they urge residents to stay alert. Remember, the IRS will not contact you by phone, email, or social media to ask for personal information like your social security number or bank account numbers. This is a scam and should be reported to the authorities immediately!
The IRS is warning the public that scammers continue to use the Coronavirus pandemic as a cover to steal money and personal information.
One popular scam tries to get victims to pay a fee for their stimulus payment, while another tricks people into giving the scammer their social security number, bank account or government benefits debit card account number.
In May, more than 1,200 stimulus related websites were registered. Sixty-seven of them were discovered to be malicious and/or suspicious. During one week in April, Google saw more than 18 million malware and phishing emails related to COVID-19 scams, in addition to the 240 million daily spam messages it sees related to the pandemic.
Other schemes include fake at home test kits, fake cures, vaccines, pills and advice on unproven treatments. Some websites claim to sell medical supplies the buyer will never see. Another scam includes bogus opportunities to invest early in companies working on a vaccine.
Both the clarinet and music lessons are tax deductible. This is due to a 1962 provision added after orthodontists argued that playing the clarinet helps with a child’s overbite and should qualify as a medical expense.
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Armen Martirosyan pled guilty to federal fraud for opening more than a dozen bank accounts he knew would be used to launder tax refunds obtained from false tax returns using stolen identities.
He opened the first account in 2009 and deposited $189,000.00 from 24 fraudulent tax refunds. Over the years, Martirosyan opened a total of 15 bank accounts to launder money from illegal returns and laundered more than $1,866,000.00 in stolen funds.
Martirosyan was part of a much larger crime ring that used false identities and fake Republic of Armenia passports to open hundreds of bank accounts used to launder funds from false tax returns. The scheme involved approximately 7,000 false tax returns that sought almost $38 million in refunds. The IRS issued nearly $14 million in false refunds.
For his part in the scheme, Martirosyan faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
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Larry Tillery of Beaumont, Texas was sentenced to 33 months in prison for tax evasion and for running a business that accepted illegal wagers on sporting events from 1985 to 2017. Tillery owned Daylight Motors, a used car dealership, as well as Lamar Capital, and used both companies as a front to launder the illegal gambling proceeds. He was ordered to pay restitution of $1,000,040.00 and to forfeit approximately $2 million in cash, jewelry and sports memorabilia. A judgment of $32,758,541.oo was also ordered against him by the court.
Tillery’s wife, Judy, was sentenced to 24 months probation and shares the judgment with her husband. She assisted with laundering the proceeds of the operation, which allowed bettors to place bets on sporting events, including professional and collegiate basketball, baseball and football games via a website.
Brian Tillery, Larry’s son, was sentenced to 24 months probation and was ordered to forfeit $245,477.00 and a home worth $600,000.00. He collected money from bettors, paid bettors and made wire transfers to pay illegal gambling debts. He also regularly mailed currency totaling more than $10,000.00 through the US Post Office.
While the gambling operation was illegal, federal tax law still required that Tillery register with the IRS as a bookmaker, report total wages he accepted monthly, and pay a gross wagering excise tax of 2% every month. Between 2011 and 2016 alone, Tillery accepted at least $52 million in illegal wagers, resulting in over a million dollars in wagering taxes he did not pay.
If you have an IRS issue, or just want to refer a friend, relative or client, we'd love to hear from you. We can provide a no-obligation confidential consultation to help you to solve your IRS problems.
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2020 Patrick T. Sheehan & Associates, d/b/a IRS Trouble Solvers®
All rights reserved.
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Our mailing address is:
314 N. York Rd.
Elmhurst, IL 60126
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