"Godfather" sculptures; designer handbags; nonprofit embezzlement; and other highlights of recent tax cases.
Easton, Maryland: Robert Michael (56) of Easton, the owner and operator of B&E Motorsports in Easton, pleaded guilty to a felony theft scheme over $100,000, felony identity fraud scheme over $25,000, perjury and willfully filing a false income tax return.
The felony theft scheme was falsified sales paperwork to underreport the prices of jet skis, dirt bikes and trailers — cheating the State of Maryland out of tens of thousands of dollars in excise taxes — between July of 2018 and June of 2025.
Sentencing is set for Oct. 27 — the parties have agreed to a binding sentence — Michael will serve 18 months followed by five years of supervised probation. He will pay $81,081.42 in restitution to DNR, $52,448.36 in restitution to MDOT/MVA and $37,920,29 in restitution to the Maryland Comptroller and a fine of $25,000.
The charges stem from a fraud scheme Michael carried out between July 2018 and June 2025. Michael collected the correct tax from consumers at the time of sale but then created a second set of false documents to submit to DNR and MDOT, showing a fake lower price. Michael would remit only the tax due on the fake lower price and would steal the difference.
In total, the investigation into this jet ski scheme revealed at least 165 instances of Michael falsifying various DNR forms and vessel titles, including forgery of customers' signatures, resulting in a total theft from the State of $81,081.42.
In total, the investigation into the dirt bike and trailer scheme revealed at least 95 instances of Michael falsifying various MVA forms under penalty of perjury and vehicle titles, resulting in a total theft from the state of $78,545.49.
The investigation into records and filings showed falsifications and underpayment of collected sales tax. Additionally, a review of personal income tax filings by Michael during the period showed gross underreporting of income.
Los Angeles: An Orange County woman who is the former girlfriend of a cryptocurrency fraudster who called himself "The Godfather" was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for failing to report more than $2.6 million in ill-gotten gains she obtained via her then-boyfriend's criminal activities.
Iris Rabaya Au, 37, of Irvine, was also ordered to pay $1,484,343 in restitution and to forfeit a fleet of luxury and high-performance cars, designer handbags and three "Godfather" sculptures, among other assets.
From 2020 to 2024, Au dated Adam Iza, 26, who resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, and was a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman who has been in federal custody since September 2024.
Iza committed a series of crimes, including fraudulently obtaining access to advertising accounts and lines of credit provided by Facebook and Meta Platforms and selling access to those accounts. Iza obtained millions of dollars of unreported income because of these schemes.
At Iza's direction, Au created shell corporations and opened bank accounts in the names of those entities. She then used the illicit funds placed into those accounts to pay approximately $1 million to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies — who had provided private security for him — mostly in cash, to purchase or lease luxury real estate, cars, jewelry and clothing, to pay for recreational activity for Iza and herself valued at nearly $10 million, and to acquire approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency for Iza.
Au transferred more than $2.6 million from these various accounts to her personal bank accounts during the period 2020 through 2023, income that she willfully failed to report to the IRS on her federal tax returns.
Iza pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5.
Iza is serving a 15-year federal prison sentence for his involvement in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin and a kidnapping in Connecticut in August 2024.
Plainfield, Connecticut: William Lavimoniere, 66, a Plainfield business owner, has pleaded guilty to tax evasion after he failed to report income and took steps to avoid paying taxes owed to the IRS.
Lavimoniere previously was sentenced on Oct. 10, 2012, to 33 months in prison for fraud and tax crimes tied to the embezzlement of more than $348,000 from a nonprofit organization that served adults and students with disabilities in Connecticut.
Lavimoniere divorced his spouse in November 2012 and transferred assets, including their home, in an effort to avoid IRS collection efforts. He was released from federal prison in April 2015.
For tax years 2008 through 2011, Lavimoniere owed $213,267 in assessed taxes, excluding penalties and interest, and paid about $7,007 toward that balance. The IRS stopped civil collection efforts on the debt in December 2023 after the collection statute expired.
After leaving prison, prosecutors said Lavimoniere operated a trucking and furniture installation company known as WJL Handling LLC.
Lavimoniere did not file federal tax returns for tax years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024. For tax years 2019 through 2022, he filed returns that understated income from the company.
Lavimoniere structured cash withdrawals to stay below financial reporting thresholds, paid employees in cash and used business accounts to cover personal expenses.
The government calculated that Lavimoniere owes $246,417 in restitution to the IRS. He agreed to cooperate with the IRS in paying outstanding taxes, interest and penalties.
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 9. Tax evasion carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Greenville, North Carolina: The owner of a Greenville tax preparation business was sentenced to more than two years in prison for helping prepare a false federal tax return.
Danielle Melissa Staten, 40, was also sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,508,171 in restitution to the IRS.
Staten owned and operated Precise Tax Preparation LLC in Greenville and prepared false federal income tax returns for clients from 2018 through 2023.
The returns contained false information intended to increase clients' refunds, resulting in approximately $1.5 million in tax losses.
Many of the returns included false Schedule Cs. Staten fabricated income and expenses to generate fraudulent EITC claims.
Tyler, Texas: A Longview man and woman have pleaded guilty to federal violations related to falsified tax returns in the Eastern District of Texas.
Antwon Pierre Sadler, 41, and Raegan Samone Hagler, 29, both of Longview, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to aid or assist in tax fraud.
Sadler and Hagler worked at a tax preparation business owned by Marneitha Scott and operated under the name of F.A.S.T. Financial Firm with two locations in Longview. Scott, Hagler and Sadler devised a scheme to defraud the United States by creating and instructing other tax preparers to create fraudulent entries on client tax returns, including claims for business losses when the client had no business.
The tax returns were filed by Scott, Hagler and Sadler or other employees and the tax preparation business was paid a fee by the clients for preparing and filing the returns. Their conduct resulted in a known tax loss for tax years 2019 to 2022 of at least $400,000.00 and an estimated tax loss of at least $5 million. Scott pleaded guilty to the same offense on Feb. 18 and is awaiting sentencing.
The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is up to five years in federal prison, a potential fine and restitution at sentencing.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Amon Eustache Aboua (56) was sentenced for aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false and fraudulent return and wire fraud.
Aboua was sentenced to two years and nine months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Aboua was also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Victims Fund and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $540,267.43 for the income tax fraud, as well as $232,600 he agreed to pay in child support he owed.
Aboua operated a tax business called ACU Tax Services, from February 2018 through April 2019 and prepared fraudulent tax returns on behalf of Sioux Falls taxpayers. He filled out the forms, falsely claiming deductions for other taxes, charitable deductions and itemized expenses, which reduced the taxable income and lowered the amount of tax owed for over 20 individuals, resulting in a tax loss to the United States.
The clients he prepared the returns for did not provide him with fraudulent information — this scheme was entirely devised and implemented by Aboua in order to enrich himself with money stolen from the government. The IRS identified more than 500 returns tied to Aboua and ACU claiming deductions for "other taxes," during the charged period. The total tax loss to the United States was identified as $540,267.43.
