Tax Fraud

The owner of a Maine heating oil business is being sentenced to five months in jail for tax fraud. Attorney General William Schneider says 49-year-old Andrew Murphy Sr. of Bangor was sentenced Tuesday after being convicted of 14 counts of state tax fraud, including theft of withholding tax, intentional tax evasion, failure to pay over withholding tax and making false statements in tax returns. He must also pay $65,713 in restitution. Murphy operates a fuel oil and trucking delivery business.

A former Southbridge resident was sentenced Thursday to nearly 22 years in prison for his involvement in a fraud scam related to the federal first-time homebuyer tax credit program. Junior A. Lopez, also known as Ace, was sentenced in US District Court in Worcester for his involvement in a 2008 scam involving more than 50 fraudulent tax forms and $500,000 in refunds, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty last year to fraud-related charges linked to the federal program, which was aimed at stimulating the sluggish US housing market.

The U.S. Justice Department says it has indicted Switzerland's oldest private bank, claiming it conspired with Americans and others to hide more than $1.2 billion in client assets from the Internal Revenue Service. Justice officials said Thursday that they also seized more than $16 million from Wegelin & Co.'s correspondent bank in the U.S. The move comes about a month after U.S. authorities indicted three client advisers at the St. Gallen, Switzerland-based bank on similar charges.

Sprint-Nextel Corp. was sued for more than $300 million by the New York attorney general, who said the third-largest US wireless carrier deliberately failed to pay sales taxes for seven years. Sprint didn't collect and pay some sales taxes on flat-rate access charges for wireless calling plans, costing state and local governments more than $100 million, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement today. "This case represents a new era in tax fraud prosecutions," Schneiderman said at press conference today.

Seven people are facing federal tax fraud charges in Florida in a $120 million scheme authorities say involved clients in 30 states. Prosecutors say the scam was based on the false argument that taxpayers are not responsible for debts such as home mortgages and credit card bills. The fraud involved seeking Internal Revenue Service tax refunds to pay those debts. There were about 180 clients in the scheme and about 380 false tax returns were filed. Prosecutors say the scammers held seminars in Florida and Tennessee to recruit people.

An owner of wireless companies in Ohio and Kentucky has pleaded guilty to employment tax fraud for failing to collect and pay employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. Federal prosecutors say Khalid Alnajar (kah-LEED' AL'-nuh-jar) pleaded guilty Monday to one count of employment fraud in Cincinnati. The 46-year-old president and owner of Warsaw Wireless Inc. and Warsaw Wireless of Kentucky Inc. could get a maximum five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The companies operate wireless phone stores in southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky.

Sprint-Nextel Corp. was sued for more than $300 million by the New York attorney general, who said the third-largest US wireless carrier deliberately failed to pay sales taxes for seven years. Sprint didn't collect and pay some sales taxes on flat-rate access charges for wireless calling plans, costing state and local governments more than $100 million, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement today. "This case represents a new era in tax fraud prosecutions," Schneiderman said at press conference today.

MIAMI - A former banker at Swiss giant UBS AG was sentenced yesterday to five years' probation and no jail time for tax fraud as a reward for helping US prosecutors build other tax evasion cases. Senior US District Judge James Lawrence King agreed that Renzo Gadola, 45, deserved leniency for his cooperation, which has led to charges against two former colleagues and at least one banking client. "You cooperated fully and the results have been extraordinary," King said at a hearing.

An attorney for imprisoned ex-Illinois Gov. George Ryan says Ryan’s wife is in “grave’’ condition at a Kankakee hospital. Ryan’s lawyer, former Gov. James Thompson, said Monday that Lura Lynn Ryan is on a respirator at Riverside Medical Center. Thompson says she was admitted to the hospital last week for trouble breathing. George Ryan is in an Indiana federal prison, where he has served more than three years of a 6 ½-year sentence. Ryan was convicted in 2006 of racketeering, conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements to the FBI. Ryan was...

The New York Mets' longtime clubhouse manager has admitted he illegally owned millions of dollars' worth of team memorabilia. Charlie Samuels pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Queens courthouse to possessing stolen property and tax fraud. He is expected to be sentenced in April to five years' probation. The 55-year-old is also banned from any Mets facility, even if he buys a ticket. Samuels was fired by the team in 2010. He had worked for the Mets since 1976 and became equipment manager in 1983.

The New York Mets' longtime clubhouse manager has admitted he illegally owned millions of dollars' worth of team memorabilia. Charlie Samuels pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Queens courthouse to possessing stolen property and tax fraud. He is expected to be sentenced in April to five years' probation. The 55-year-old is also banned from any Mets facility, even if he buys a ticket. Samuels was fired by the team in 2010. He had worked for the Mets since 1976 and became equipment manager in 1983.

Daniel Adams, the Cape Cod filmmaker who is in jail awaiting trial on state tax fraud charges, was again denied a lower bail yesterday, Attorney General Martha Coakley's office said. Superior Court Judge Frances McIntyre rejected Adams's request to lower his bail from $100,000. Adams's lawyer, James Greenberg, argued that the bail should be lowered to $5,000 because Adams is facing financial difficulties. Adams has been charged by the state attorney general with bilking the state of $4.7 million in tax credits on two films he made on Cape Cod, "The Golden Boys" and "The...

The U.S. Justice Department says it has indicted Switzerland's oldest private bank, claiming it conspired with Americans and others to hide more than $1.2 billion in client assets from the Internal Revenue Service. Justice officials said Thursday that they also seized more than $16 million from Wegelin & Co.'s correspondent bank in the U.S. The move comes about a month after U.S. authorities indicted three client advisers at the St. Gallen, Switzerland-based bank on similar charges.

The owner of a Maine heating oil business is being sentenced to five months in jail for tax fraud. Attorney General William Schneider says 49-year-old Andrew Murphy Sr. of Bangor was sentenced Tuesday after being convicted of 14 counts of state tax fraud, including theft of withholding tax, intentional tax evasion, failure to pay over withholding tax and making false statements in tax returns. He must also pay $65,713 in restitution. Murphy operates a fuel oil and trucking delivery business.

A Cape Cod filmmaker was indicted yesterday on 10 counts of making false claims and larceny after receiving $4.7 million in tax credits from the state, according to the attorney general's office. A Suffolk County grand jury returned the indictments on Daniel Adams, 50, who was arrested last week on charges he defrauded Massachusetts taxpayers. He pleaded not guilty last Friday and is being held on $100,000 cash bail. Adams is scheduled to appear in Suffolk Superior Court today, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley's office.

A Cape Cod movie director was arraigned yesterday in Boston Municipal Court on charges that he defrauded Massachusetts taxpayers of $4.7 million in state tax credits by lying about the cost of two films he shot on the Cape. Daniel Adams, 50, received the tax credits for making "The Lightkeepers," starring Richard Dreyfuss as a curmudgeonly lighthouse keeper, in 2009, and the 2008 film, "The Golden Boys. " He claimed $17 million in expenses associated with the films, according to state Attorney General Martha Coakley, and received a 25 percent tax credit under a law aimed at enticing...

Seven people are facing federal tax fraud charges in Florida in a $120 million scheme authorities say involved clients in 30 states. Prosecutors say the scam was based on the false argument that taxpayers are not responsible for debts such as home mortgages and credit card bills. The fraud involved seeking Internal Revenue Service tax refunds to pay those debts. There were about 180 clients in the scheme and about 380 false tax returns were filed. Prosecutors say the scammers held seminars in Florida and Tennessee to recruit people.

A former Arundel man has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for seeking fraudulent tax refunds totaling nearly $216,000 in other people's names. Federal prosecutors say 43-year-old Robert Andre Bouthot (BOO'-tot) was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland to six years and three months in prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $138,000 in restitution. Bouthot pleaded guilty in May to filing a false income tax return and identity theft.