Don't rock the boat; go fly a kite; no place like home and other highlights of recent tax cases.
Las Vegas: A mother-son duo who operated a Las Vegas tax preparation business have admitted to orchestrating a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme involving false tax returns and diverted client refunds.
Iris Hondermann and her son Ivan Odiaga pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by filing fraudulent tax returns with the IRS over a five-year period.
Between 2017 and 2021, Hondermann, who owned and operated the tax preparation business, and Odiaga, who worked for the company, prepared tax returns for clients that contained numerous false items such as fabricated business profits and losses and unauthorized COVID-19 sick and family leave credits.
The pair sought more than $5 million in fraudulent refunds from the IRS that their clients were not entitled to receive.
In addition to filing false returns, Hondermann and Odiaga secretly diverted portions of client tax refunds without their clients' knowledge or consent. Over the five-year period, they redirected more than $1.1 million in fraudulent tax refunds to bank accounts under their control.
Odiaga also filed approximately 279 tax returns using another tax preparer's unique identifier without permission, despite receiving multiple warning letters from the IRS against such misuse.
Both defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on June 8, 2026.
Richmond, Virginia: Kevin Alphonso Starlings, 40, pleaded guilty to subscribing to a false tax return and wire fraud.
The Sandston, Virginia, man was the sole owner and operator of several businesses, including Jeremiah Enterprises, Starlings Enterprises, The Service Sharks, ProSource Property Solutions and Jeremiah Entertainment LLC. Starlings issued W-2s from his five businesses to himself, purportedly reflecting the wages, tips and other compensation he was paid, and the trust fund taxes and federal income tax that were purportedly withheld and paid over to the IRS on his behalf.
For calendar years 2016 through 2022, Starlings filed Forms 1040 falsely reporting, among other things, that his companies had withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal tax from his income and that he had paid those funds to the IRS. In total, for those years, Starlings falsely reported that he had withheld and paid to the IRS $827,290. None of Starlings' companies made any withholding or payment of federal taxes to the IRS on Starlings' behalf for those years.
From April 2020 through at least September 2021, Starlings fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief funds by submitting false and misleading applications to the Small Business Administration, the Virginia Employment Commission and the North Carolina Division of Employment Security.
Starlings is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16. He faces up to 30 years in prison.
Baltimore: A former office manager for an Ocean City home builder has been convicted of embezzling more than $1.7 million from her employer over an eight-year period.
Tammy Barcus, 57, of Berlin, Maryland, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and tax evasion in connection with the scheme, which spanned from 2016 through 2024.
Barcus worked as an office manager and bookkeeper for the construction company, where she was entrusted with substantial control over the company's financial records and accounts.
Barcus was sentenced to 48 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
In addition to the prison term, Barcus was ordered to pay $1,793,688.87 in restitution to the home builder and $562,883 to the IRS. The court also imposed a forfeiture money judgment of $1,793,688.87.
St. Paul, Minnesota: A Twin Cities construction company owner has been charged with several tax crimes. Richard Hoffman of St. Louis Park has been charged with six counts of failing to file individual income tax returns and six felony counts of willfully failing to pay income tax.
Hoffman did not file tax returns or pay income tax from 2019 to 2024 despite having income from his construction business, Midwest Custom Builders LLC, along with cash deposits and over $2 million in winnings from gambling.
Hoffman admitted knowing he had to file returns and pay taxes, but felt "overwhelmed" and stated "he didn't know how to fix it." Hoffman owes over $356,000 in income tax for the years in question. Each felony charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
Glen Rock, New Jersey: Evangelos Drosos, 51, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud and failing to file one income tax return.
Drosos, who is an accountant, admitted to running a $10 million Ponzi scheme and committing other financial crimes.
For 12 years, Drosos used a collection of businesses under his control to convince investors he would manage their money through a variety of investments.
In reality, Drosos made payments to investors using money from other investors, while also using the money on personal expenses, including real estate, luxury cars and vacations.
Between 2013 and June 2025, Drosos collected about $10 million from investors, causing more than $3 million in losses.
Drosos also orchestrated a check-kiting scheme in June 2024 after the Ponzi scheme fell apart.
Drosos would write checks that exceeded the funds in his accounts and move money between accounts, officials said.
He obtained almost $500,000 through the check-kiting scheme.
Drosos is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23.
Decaturville, Tennessee: Wayne Taylor pleaded guilty to one felony charge of tax evasion related to presenting false documents for a boat registration to the Decatur County Clerk's Office.
Taylor was sentenced to one year of supervised probation and ordered to pay $2,720 in restitution.
