Besides trivial tax cheating, there are a number of taxes that the federal government may subject the violator to criminal prosecution.

Excise taxes – failing to pay appropriate taxes on liquor and drugs will be subject to criminal prosecution.  Even illegal drugs are subject to stamp taxes.  This provides a unique conundrum for drug dealers.  If they do not affix the tax stamps to their product, they may face tax evasion penalties in addition to other penalties

Firearms and gambling machines – these items are subject to licensing fees and taxation varying by the state.

Corruption of an IRS officer or employee for the purpose of avoiding tax laws is subject to criminal prosecution.

Defacing, removing or misusing a tax stamp is also subject to criminal prosecution.

When these charges are brought against an individual, tax evasion charges have priority over other charges and felonies have priority over misdemeanor offenses.  The major count is determined by the charge that carries the longest sentence.  If there are two similar counts, then the one of the greatest financial detriment to the government will be the major count.  These guidelines are effective for tax offenses only and no other criminal offenses committed.

If you are the subject of criminal prosecution for a tax issue in Long Island, you should seek a consultation with our Long Island criminal defense lawyer at (516) 294-7611 immediately.

A bust-out is when a company is set up to fail from the beginning. The perpetrator of a bust-out scheme usually obtains merchandise and funding from creditors, sells the merchandise and does not pay the company’s suppliers by filing for bankruptcy.

Bust-out schemes are generally not considered to be fraud, until the perpetrator submits some sort of falsity during the filing for bankruptcy. Bust-out schemes does not preclude to just one type of fraud, it is common for a defendant who is charged for operating a bust-out fraud scheme to be additionally charged with bankruptcy fraud, tax fraud, and/or wire fraud.

For example:

The defendant operates a series of businesses in the same industry and does not pay taxes on behalf of the businesses. The defendant files a Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the company just before the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) files a lien on the defendant’s assets. The defendant continues to operate the business for a while during the Chapter 11 proceedings, and right before the Court assesses the assets, the perpetrator uses them to start a new business.

There are many methods that law enforcement agencies use to investigate a fraudulent bust-out schemes in Long Island; most of which stem from suspicions of fraudulent bankruptcy filings by the debtor.

An examination of the submitted documents within the Chapter 11 proceeding would be the first step in the investigative process, which in itself holds a myriad of information that may incriminate the debtor. Examples would include information on the debtor –in-possession banking accounts, statement of financial affairs, schedules of assets and liabilities, and operating reports.

If any of such documents contain fraudulent information, then investigators would have grounds to go on a “fishing expedition” to expose the fraud, which would include a visit to your home, subpoenas, or warrants.

If you have been investigated or charged for operating a fraudulent bust-out scheme in Long Island,  call our Long Island bankruptcy fraud criminal lawyers at 516.204.7611 to get professional legal advice..

Yes. Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act came into force in July 2002 and introduced major changes to the regulation of corporate governance and financial practice, corporate officers became accountable for the content of their corporation’s income tax returns. In most cases manipulation and misrepresentation of such companies’ performances are considered to be corporate fraud, and are punishable by 20 years of incarceration.

What is Corporate Fraud?

Corporate Fraud is concentrated on Internal Revenue Code violations and related statutes committed by large, publicly/privately-traded corporations, and/or by their senior executives. This includes a myriad of tax evasion crimes and other crimes such as the submitting of false statements to purchasers or lessees.  Depending on the case’s scope, complexity, and amount of people it involves, a corporate fraud investigation can take years before investigators are ready to arrest the offender.

Sometimes a corporate fraud investigation can be small scaled, since a corporation does not only include large “wall-street “ companies in New York City. For example, a liquor storeowner who filed his business as a corporation and does not report all his business’s income on his corporate tax return may be charged for tax evasion and be criminally liable for corporate fraud.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

The IRS Criminal Investigation special agents are usually the ones involved with corporate fraud investigations. They have the analytical ability and the investigative technology to go through mounds of financial records quickly and efficiently. In most corporate fraud cases the IRS will work with another federal investigative agency.

Being involved in a corporate fraud investigation is a risky process for the offender; it is usually not the time to follow the “do it your self” method. Since, the offender may self incriminate himself, it best to first seek advice from a federal criminal defense attorney on what to do next.

At Joseph Potashnik & Associates, we have a panel of some of the most skilled federal criminal defense attorneys who have the knowledge and the skill to find out the defense the defendant rightfully needs.

If you are being investigated or arrested corporate fraud in Long Island, call our Long Island corporate fraud federal lawyers at 516.204.7611 to get professional legal advice.

As we all know, there are people who do not want the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to know about their banking transactions and other information, and therefore form various methods to evade them. One of these methods is setting up offshore bank accounts, which individuals set up foreign bank accounts and transfer money towards it as a tax shelter.

Contrary to what one may believe, offshore banking is legal and is not always affiliated with tax evasion or money laundering. In fact, there are situations in which offshore banking is completely permissible. However, offshore banking is complex and if you don’t fully understand what you are doing, you may put yourself at risk of criminal liability for crimes perpetuated by offshore banking.

When offshore banking is done incorrectly…

Offshore banking is often associated with illegal activities. One of the most commonly known is tax evasion. If you set up an offshore bank account, you will still need to report your savings to the IRS by filing a TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.

Failure to file your offshore bank account with the IRS will probably give the feds an opportunity to launch an investigation on you for tax evasion. In recent news, UBS was pressured by U.S. government officials into releasing the names of American account holders of suspected tax evasion. After the names were released, extensive investigation were launched and some of them prosecuted in New York Federal Courts.

If you are being investigated for tax evasion…

Prevention is usually the best way to go. At the beginning of a fraud investigation, it is best to seek an experienced federal criminal defense counsel for a consultation on what to do next before speaking with the IRS.

If you are being investigated or arrested for tax evasion or money laundering in Long Island, then call out Long Island Tax Fraud Lawyers at (516) 204-7611 to get professional legal advice.

In short, the answer is yes. However, there are  certain IRS requirements  the account holder must be careful about.  Because the main purpose of offshore  bank  accounts was to avoid paying taxes in the US, the government  requires U.S. tax who have offshore bank accounts to report any income from these accounts. All income generated from foreign financial accounts is considered taxable income. anyone with signatory authority over an offshore bank account must file Form TDF 90-22.1 by June 30. Failure to do so will result in criminal and civil liability. The civil penalties are really harsh, reaching up to 50% of the account balance.

If you have IRS problems due to your foreign accounts in Long Island, call Long Island tax fraud defense attorneys at (516) 204-7611 to get professional legal advice.