The former senior vice president and general counsel of Moody’s (a financial services company that provides credit ratings, research, and risk analysis) was sentenced to prison for failure to file his tax returns.
John Goggins, 63 years old, worked at Moody’s for more than 20 years. According to the Department of Justice, Mr. Goggins earned $54 million through his employment between the years 2018 and 2021. Inexplicably, Mr. Goggins, also failed to file income tax returns during that time.
Following an IRS criminal tax investigation, Mr. Goggins pled guilty to the charges in April of this year. Mr. Goggins had resigned from Moody’s in the autumn of 2023. Following his plea, Mr. Goggins paid $3.1 million in restitution and a $40,000 fine. In October, Mr. Goggins was sentenced to eight months in prison. Upon taking the plea, the lawyer for Mr. Goggins noted, "Mr. Goggins deeply regrets and accepts full responsibility for failing to file certain personal income tax returns. This is a personal matter that has nothing to do with his work at Moody's."
Mr. Goggins, a resident of Chatham, New Jersey, was a successful businessman and attorney well familiar with tax laws and financial regulation. According to the ABA Journal, Mr. Goggins experienced a series of personal setbacks that may have contributed to this tax crime. In 2015, he lost a child, and his marriage became strained. Mr. Goggin’s failure to make car payments resulted in the repossession of his vehicle twice, and he also failed to renew his license to practice law.
Failure to file a tax return, or failure to pay over employment tax, are not uncommon tax crimes. Business owners and taxpayers may be trying to pay bills or feather their nests. And sometimes, the business of life is just too much to handle. While the prosecuting attorney said Mr. Goggins actions were a “deliberate defiance of the tax law,” and that he “only filed returns where the tax authority caught him for not filing,” others might see someone struggling to get through each day.
At his sentencing, a spokesperson for Mr. Goggins said, “Mr. Goggins deeply regrets and has accepted full responsibility for his failure to file his tax returns. He is grateful to the Court for considering the comprehensive measures of accountability and restitution he has taken in connection with his misdemeanor offenses. He looks forward to putting this matter behind him and will be timely filing all tax returns going forward.”
Regardless of the reason, if you are engaged in conduct likely to attract the attention of the IRS, speak with an experienced tax attorney today.
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With offices in Cleveland and Chicago, the legal group at Robert J. Fedor, Esq., LLC delivers skilled representation on IRS audits, employment tax fraud, and other tax issues. Call 440-250-9709 or contact us online today.
