A lot has been posted this weekend in the annals of tax crime. We’ll venture from New York to the Gulf Coast to see if the government took a bite out of [tax] crime.
Another of the Ozbay clan has been sentenced. On Wednesday, Birol Ozbay of Schenectady, New York, found that he would receive 121 months (10 years) in prison and must forfeit $6.8 million. That’s basically the same sentence that Ziya Ozbay received in mid-March. The Ozbays didn’t pay their taxes, they structured their transactions, and they didn’t remit withholding tax that was withheld from employees to the government. They scored the rare trifecta of three different kinds of tax fraud. Two more Ozbays await sentencing: Yalcin Ozbay (who was found guilty at trial) and Mustafa Ozbay (who pleaded guilty during the trial).
Meanwhile, a doctor in Louisiana allegedly kept two sets of books. It’s a wonderful way to save on taxes…until you get caught. Garland Miller of Zwolle, Louisiana, was indicted on two counts of income tax evasion. Mr. Miller is also under indictment for theft in state court; he allegedly bilked “tens of thousands of dollars” from a local hospital. Mr. Miller faces up to ten years at ClubFed and up to $500,000 in fines if convicted in federal court for tax evasion.
A woman in Mississippi allegedly found an interesting way to profit from a corporate merger. Instead of closing the old bank accounts (as she was told to do), she allegedly kept them open, and transferred funds into them. She then allegedly moved them to her personal account. Donna Hardy has been charged with twelve counts of bank fraud and five counts of tax evasion. Oh yes, she didn’t report the tax on the stolen money….
Three interesting ways to try to turn an illegal buck. The trouble is that not only can you get in trouble turning the illegal buck, you have to pay tax on it.