A Picture of Tax Fraud—San Jose Man Charged with Tax Crimes

arrested manThe circumstances around the arrest of a San Jose man tells a story of several common tax crimes rolled into one complicated narrative.

 

Our law firm provides smart legal representation to business owners and individuals caught up in potentially fraudulent activities or who may already be the subject of an IRS criminal tax investigation or audit.

 

A San Jose police officer recently found himself charged with a host of serious criminal tax charges. The man, 47-year old Robert Foster, was a polygraph operator with the San Jose Police Department. Mr. Foster was not charged with any crimes surrounding his employment, but rather in his capacity as the owner of a business about which his employer had no knowledge.

 

Along with his wife and eight other individuals, Mr. Foster ran Atlas Private Security, a business interest that provided security guards and polygraph services to local area companies. The business was apparently successful enough that Mr. Foster and his cohort began to take liberties with state and federal regulations involving workers’ compensation and payment of state and federal taxes. The criminal tax investigation into the business found Mr. Foster funneled $8.9 million dollars in payroll away from the business to create a payroll tax liability of $578,716.56.

 

Just some of the felony charges with which Mr. Foster and his associates are charged include:

 

  • Insurance fraud
  • Criminal payroll tax issues
  • Unemployment insurance fraud
  • Money laundering
  • White collar crime enhancement
  • Wage theft
  • Paying employees under the table
  • Maintaining inaccurate payroll and headcounts and more

 

While these are all fairly routine white-collar tax crimes, the breadth of the charges is significant.  Overall, the company laundered over $18 million and also threatened with deportation one employee who was investigating her options for workers’ compensation benefits.

 

Scheduled to be arraigned in November of this year, Mr. Foster and others involved face prison time if convicted on more than 40 felony charges. This troubled scenario underscores an urgent message for business owners who may currently be engaged in questionable payroll tax practices, or even those with offshore tax investments on which an FBAR report may not have been filed for several years.

 

If you are currently involved in or know of tax irregularities in your operation—you only know what you know. You may or may not know that the IRS is already interested in your situation. Or you may know that you are in over your head and have no idea how to get clear. If any of this sounds familiar, then it is time to find a good criminal tax lawyer.

 

Mr. Foster illustrates what occurs when you do not obtain good legal advice early enough in the cycle to impact the initial outcome. Good legal defense may yet help Mr. Foster find a lower impact end-game than he is currently facing. For the rest of us, the story reminds us to get good legal advice sooner than later.

 

Chicago tax lawyers help you with allegations of tax fraud or civil tax audits

With offices in Chicago and Cleveland, the legal team at Robert J. Fedor, Esq., LLC help clients respond to allegations of offshore tax irregularities, tax crime, or other tax controversy. When you need experienced legal advice locally or internationally, call 800-579-0997 or contact us.