Examples of Abusive Tax Schemes - Fiscal Year 2013

The following examples of abusive tax schemes are written from public record documents on file in the court records in the judicial district in which the cases were prosecuted.

Virginia Anesthesiologist Sentenced for Filing False Tax Returns
On December 5, 2012 in Richmond, Va., George Anderson was sentenced to 33 months in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to pay $471,919 in restitution for tax fraud. According to court documents, Anderson pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns. Anderson was the sole owner of Farmville Anesthesia Associates Inc. Beginning in 2001, Anderson attempted to reduce his business’s tax liability to zero by diverting income to sham and nominee entities. Anderson paid hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bogus expenses out of Farmville Anesthesia’s bank accounts to other accounts and limited liability companies he controlled. He then falsely reported these payments on Farmville Anesthesia’s corporate income tax returns as legitimate business expenses and failed to report that income on his personal taxes.

Owner of Law Offices Sentenced for Tax Fraud
On December 3, 2012, in Los Angeles, Calif., Robert M.L. Baker III, owner of Robert M.L. Baker III Law Offices of Santa Monica, Calif., was sentenced to 36 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,056,879 in restitution. On January 25, 2012, Baker pleaded guilty to willfully subscribing and filing false tax returns. According to court documents, Baker devised a scheme to misappropriate client fees and settlements in order to evade payment of his tax obligations. Baker utilized shell entities and trusts to hide over $900,000 in client fees and assets from the IRS, including a house located in Westwood. Baker also submitted a false offer in compromise form by mail and filed false tax returns with the IRS in attempts to evade over $1 million in tax.

Ohio Attorney Sentenced on Tax Fraud Charges  
On November 2, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio, Aristotle R. Matsa, aka Rick Matsa, of Worthington, Ohio, was sentenced to 85 months in prison and ordered to pay a $265,000 criminal fine, $388,000 in restitution to the IRS and $24,069 in restitution to a client. Matsa was convicted by a jury in April 2012 on one count of a corrupt endeavor to obstruct and impede the IRS, 15 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns, that related to five different trusts; one count of willfully failing to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR); one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, commit perjury and make false statements; two counts of witness tampering; one count of submitting a false statement; and one count of obstruction of justice. Matsa’s mother and co-defendant, Loula Z. Matsa, was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $150,000 criminal fine for her role in the conspiracy with her son to obstruct justice, commit perjury and make false statements. According to court documents and trial evidence, Matsa created and operated several nominee entities in order to disguise and conceal his income and assets from the IRS. The false trust return charges relate to filings for at least five separate trust entities during the tax years 2003 to 2005. In fact, the evidence at trial showed that he had been filing similarly false returns for the trusts dating back to 1990. Each of the trusts reported receiving significant amounts of interest income each year, yet no income tax was ever reported as due because the trust tax returns fraudulently claimed deductions for distributions purportedly paid annually to a foreign beneficiary. The evidence at trial established, however, that Rick Matsa used funds from these trusts to purchase a 150-acre farm in Hocking County as well as a home in Worthington, Ohio. In addition, the trusts’ purported foreign beneficiary was located in the Netherlands and testified that she was not the beneficiary of the trusts. The evidence at trial also showed that during calendar year 2003 Rick Matsa violated the foreign bank account reporting requirements, by failing to disclose his ownership and control over a foreign bank account held in The Netherlands. This account had in excess of $300,000 from at least August 2003 to November 2003.

Fiscal Year 2012 - Abusive Tax Schemes

Fiscal Year 2011 - Abusive Tax Schemes

Table of Contents - Abusive Tax Schemes

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