A joint Treasury Department and IRS crackdown has recovered $1.3 billion from wealthy tax dodgers, according to a recent press release.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the very wealthiest Americans owe the most, with the top 1% owing more than 20% of unpaid taxes.
In 2023 and 2024, the IRS has focused on tracking down tax evaders with over $1 million in annual income and more than $250,000 in unpaid tax obligations.
In several top cases cited by the IRS, tax evasion is not their only crime. The IRS makes no exceptions for incomes earned through illegal activities.
Mark Anthony Gyetvay
Mark Anthony Gyetvay was sentenced to 86 months in prison and ordered to pay $350,000 in fines and $4,021,074 in restitution for hiding as much as $93 million in Swiss bank accounts.
He failed to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), falsified statements to the IRS, and failed to file tax returns in 2013 and 2014.
Gyetvay is the former Chief Financial Officer of Russian natural gas company Novatek.
Wesner Jean-Pierre
Orlando-area tax preparer Wesner Jean-Pierre was sentenced to 26 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $830,840 in restitution to the IRS for preparing 1,949 false tax returns.
The IRS alleged that he misrepresented his clients’ income, deductions, and refund due to steal taxpayer funds.
Related: IRS Warns About Social Media Misinformation on Self-Employment Tax Credit
Jacob and Isaiah Kingston
Washakie Renewable Energy owners Jacob and Isaiah Kingston were part of a tax fraud conspiracy that claimed $1 billion in refundable renewable tax credits.
The IRS paid out $511 million in credits to the company. The Kingstons shared the money with other members of the conspiracy, including Lev Aslan Dermen and their mother, Rachel Kingston.
Members of the conspiracy faced prison sentences and were ordered to pay restitution.
IRS agent Albert Childress called the Kingstons’ crime “one of the most egregious examples of tax fraud in U.S. history.”
Hunter Biden
Hunter Biden entered an Alford plea related to 9 counts related to allegations of tax evasion. An Alford plea means a defendant will accept a guilty verdict without admitting guilt. Biden’s sentencing hearing will be on December 16. He faces up to 17 years in prison.
Hunter Biden allegedly dodged $1.4 million in taxes while spending millions of dollars on luxuries and drugs. Charges included failure to file and pay his taxes, tax evasion, and filing a false return.
Maureen Holleran
Maureen Holleran of Buffalo, New York, pled guilty of filing a false tax return. She also allegedly embezzled $2,370,848.24 from the insurance company she worked for as a claims adjuster.
The IRS alleged that she failed to report the embezzled funds as income.
Jill Moran
Attorney Jill Moran pled guilty to charges related to her failure to pay income taxes for 2016, 2017, and 2018. She was the operator of Powell Law Group and a member of the Trust Advisory Committee.
Moran had a deal with the law firm’s owner, Robert J. Powell, in which she would receive 10% of the fees earned after expenses. Powell also faced charges for evading taxes on the money he received from a mass tort litigation case in which the law firm represented thousands of plaintiffs.
The firm received $120 million in fees after reaching a $5.15 billion settlement.
Anthony Niro
Landscaping company owner Anthony Niro was fined $1.75 million and sentenced to 3 years’ probation for conspiring with his wife and bookkeeper, Nanette Niro, to evade taxes between 2006 and 2010.
They filed falsified tax returns from 2006 to 2009 and failed to file a tax return in 2010. During those years, they failed to pay taxes on $7.8 million in income.
James Christopher Robinson
Business owner James Christopher Robinson of Granite Falls, North Carolina, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $4,434,225.44 in restitution for tax and credit card fraud.
Between 2017 and 2022, his companies failed to pay $3.1 million in payroll taxes. Instead, he used the money to gamble at casinos.
Tina H. Yi
Tina H. Yi of Anchorage, Alaska, pled guilty to charges related to a tax evasion scheme.
She owned and operated a hotel, bar, and liquor store that did business as Polaris HBL.
The business closed when the property was destroyed in a fire in 2017. From 2014 to 2018, she falsified her tax returns and failed to pay $550,000 in taxes.
Related: IRS Moves to Close Billionaire Tax-Dodging Loophole
