Florida CPA sentenced to prison for tax fraud

A Florida CPA was sentenced in federal court in Boston for multiple counts of tax fraud and obstructing the Internal Revenue Code.

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Greg Takesian, 54, of Miami, Fla., was sentenced last Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to two years in prison and one year of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $286,433 and a $10,000 fine. He was convicted in November 2017, following a five-day jury trial, of four counts of filing false tax returns and one count of attempting to obstruct and impede the IRS.

Takesian worked for Takesian & Company, a tax consulting firm owned by his father. Between 2008 and 2011, Takesian & Company received more than $2 million for tax and consulting services from At Home VNA, a home healthcare agency based in Waltham, Mass. In 2014, At Home VNA’s founder and owner, Michael Galatis, was convicted for fraudulently billing millions of dollars from Medicare.

Takesian spent more than $991,000 from Takesian & Company’s bank account on personal expenses, including cash and check payments to his wife and his girlfriend. In total, Takesian gave his wife more than $500,000 from the company bank account and his girlfriend over $200,000 of company funds. He also spent the money on Caribbean cruises, expensive clothing and nightclubs. Takesian didn’t report his personal spending from his firm’s bank account on his personal tax returns. After learning of the federal investigation, Takesian also filed false corporate and personal amended returns in an effort to cover up the nearly $1 million of unreported income.

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