Millions on OnlyFans; "Administrative Expenses;" cookie decorating class; and other highlights of recent tax cases.
Ewa Beach, Hawaii: A Hawaii husband and wife were sentenced to 16 months and 24 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a nationwide tax fraud scheme that involved deceiving the IRS into issuing a nearly $200,000 tax refund and then using shell bank accounts and frivolous legal filings to prevent the government from getting it back.
From approximately February 2015 through November 2018, Beverly Braumuller-Hawver and Scott Hawver, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, engaged in a fraudulent tax refund scheme by paying a promoter a series of fees in exchange for fraudulent tax paperwork. Armed with those materials, the Hawvers filed an amended 2014 tax return attaching a fabricated IRS Form 1099-MISC — a document that falsely claimed a mortgage company had paid Hawver $749,163 in income and withheld $424,163 of that amount in federal taxes. The fictitious withholding claim prompted the IRS to issue the Hawvers a tax refund for $192,845 that they were not entitled to receive.
The Hawvers moved quickly to put the money out of the government's reach, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. They deposited the Treasury check into a newly opened bank account. Within days, they transferred $170,000 into a separate account held in the name of BeverlyB Music LLC, an unrelated music business the Hawvers operated. On that same day, the Hawvers paid co-conspirators more than $70,000 from the BeverlyB Music account for their roles in the scheme. Braumuller-Hawver later wired $22,000 from that account to a jeweler to purchase gold and silver coins.
Braumuller-Hawver and Hawver were convicted of conspiring to defraud the IRS. Braumuller-Hawver was also convicted of filing a false tax return and money laundering.
Beverly Braumuller-Hawver and Scott Hawver were also ordered to jointly and severally pay $182,438.37 to the United States in restitution.
Stamford, Connecticut: Seathra Zmeena Orr, 39, of Stamford, pleaded guilty to tax evasion.
Orr worked as a content creator, creating and placing photographic and video content on the internet, including through the paid subscription website OnlyFans. For the 2019 through 2022 tax years, Orr earned more than $3 million in income from posting content on OnlyFans, and OnlyFans issued Orr Forms 1099 that reported non-employee compensation in the amounts of $164,669.96, $801,395, $1,339,900 and $822,400, respectively for those years.
However, Orr willfully failed to pay any taxes for those years, failed to file tax returns and willfully evaded payment of her taxes by using multiple business names, applying for and receiving 12 Employee Identification Numbers for these businesses, opening 11 business bank accounts and eight personal bank accounts, and moving money between those accounts without a legitimate business purpose. She also purchased and used cashier's checks, and used her business bank accounts, to make at least $1.3 million in personal expenditures, including paying rent for her apartment, purchasing luxury vehicles and buying more than $110,000 in jewelry.
Tax evasion carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years. Orr is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing, which is not scheduled.
The government has calculated that Orr owes more than $1.1 million in restitution to the IRS, and she has agreed to pay at least $476,970 in restitution. A final restitution order will be determined by the court.
Tulsa, Oklahoma: Former Vernon AME Church senior pastor Keith Rydell Mayes Sr. pleaded guilty to bank fraud and tax evasion after federal prosecutors said he embezzled more than $504,000 from the historic Tulsa church.
Mayes, 63, was hired as senior pastor in October 2021 and was responsible for overseeing church finances, donations, collections and disbursements.
Vernon AME Church was founded in 1905, and the basement of its current building was constructed in 1919. During the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, people sought refuge there. The current sanctuary was completed in 1925.
Shortly after becoming pastor, Mayes opened a bank account called "Administrative Expenses." He was the only authorized signer and used his personal residence as the account's mailing address. Prosecutors said Mayes solicited and deposited donations into the account.
In one case, a church donor intended to make a stock donation to Vernon AME. Mayes opened a brokerage account in the church's name and received $365,000 in stock transfers from the donor in 2021 and 2022. Mayes liquidated the stock, deposited the proceeds into a church account and embezzled most of the money for personal use.
Mayes embezzled more than $504,000 between March 2022 and November 2025. He used the money for gambling, personal expenses and firearms. Mayes also did not report the illegal income to the IRS, leaving him with more than $205,000 in unpaid taxes.
Mayes agreed to repay $504,313.88 related to his embezzlement, including $205,765.60 to the IRS. He also agreed to forfeit the firearms and ammunition purchased with the fraudulent funds.
A federal district court judge will schedule his sentencing for a later date.
Newtown, Connecticut: Michael Simes, 51, of Newtown, was sentenced to 10 months of imprisonment and one year of supervised release for offenses related to his failure to file tax returns and to pay more than $3.1 million in taxes, penalties and interest owed.
For the 2013 tax year and the 2016 through 2022 tax years, Simes, an attorney, failed to file U.S. tax returns, resulting in a tax loss to the IRS of $1,876,307 on gross income of more than $5.6 million. For the 2016 through 2020 tax years, Simes requested filing extensions until October of each year, but still failed to file and pay the taxes he owed.
In addition, Simes filed tax returns for the 2012, 2014 and 2015 tax years, but he paid only a fraction of taxes reported as due, thereby incurring substantial penalties and interest.
Simes was ordered to pay restitution of the present outstanding balance of $2,871,676.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of failure to file a tax return. Released on a $40,000 bond, he is required to report to prison on January 20, 2027.
Stoughton, Massachusetts: The operator and part-owner of a popular Italian restaurant in Stoughton admitted to running a seven-year tax-evasion scheme involving more than half-a-million dollars in unpaid employment taxes.
Marios Michalakis, who operates Amelia's in Stoughton and formerly operated the now shuttered Sofia Italian Steakhouse in West Roxbury, pleaded guilty to paying workers' wages in cash to avoid at least $515,815 in federal and state employment taxes between 2016 and 2022.
Michalakis, 44, of Westwood, agreed to plead guilty to six counts of failing to collect, report and pay taxes as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.
Under the plea agreement, Michalakis agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a recommended incarceration at the lower end of sentencing guidelines. Each of the six counts carries a maximum of five years in prison.
Michalakis also agreed to pay at least $2.5 million in restitution to various government agencies, with a mandatory $250,000 to be paid within 60 days of signing the plea agreement.
As the part-owner and operator of the two restaurants, Michalakis oversaw all bookkeeping, payroll and tax preparation, and was personally responsible for reporting employee wages to the IRS.
From January 2016 through December 2022, Michalakis allegedly paid restaurant employees through a combination of checks and cash but never withheld employment taxes on the cash wages and never reported or paid those taxes to the government.
Michalakis had his payroll provider file false quarterly tax returns that omitted the cash payments entirely and never issued the affected workers the W-2 forms they would have needed to report that income themselves.
Prosecutors estimated he evaded more than $515,815 in unpaid employment taxes spread across six false quarterly filings at the two restaurants.
Michalakis is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 8.
Chicago: An Illinois woman has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison after admitting her role in a tax fraud conspiracy in which she sought $4.6 million in refunds from the IRS.
Monika Skinger, of Chicago, worked with others to submit false individual and trust tax returns claiming refunds they were not entitled to receive. She also submitted fictitious financial instruments designed to make it appear that money had already been paid to the government.
Skinger received more than $1.2 million in fraudulent proceeds before pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Skinger was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $303,672.44 in restitution to the United States.
Skinger personally submitted at least 16 fictitious financial instruments on behalf of herself and others. The documents included checks, money orders and payment vouchers.
The instruments were submitted to the IRS to support false refund claims by making it appear that taxes had already been paid and could therefore be refunded. Skinger also filed at least four false individual income tax returns for herself and at least two false trust tax returns.
Skinger's guilty plea resulted in a 27-month prison sentence.
Albany, New York: A man convicted of tax and wire fraud in Warren County is headed to prison. He also must pay back more than $1.2 million in restitution.
Michael Conner, 58, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release.
He was convicted of 22 counts of wire fraud and two counts of tax fraud.
Conner, formerly of Lake George, obtained the money from investors under false pretenses between 2008 and 2023, including one he knew was dying.
Conner claimed he needed the loans to sell patents or complete business deals.
Dothan, Alabama: A Dothan tax preparer was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of false tax returns.
Carlotta Elaine Lampley, 41, who opened a tax preparation service in Dothan in 2015, will have three years of supervised release following her 57-month prison sentence.
The court also ordered Lampley to pay restitution in the amount of $314,247, which includes $62,915 associated with her own tax returns and $251,332 associated with tax returns she aided and assisted other taxpayers in filing. Lampley prepared and filed false tax returns for herself and multiple clients during tax years 2020 through 2025.
Despite being under federal indictment and released on bond, Lampley continued to prepare false tax returns.
Lampley also falsely reported other earned income for the client despite knowing that the client had not received such income.
Lampley admitted that she knew the false statements were material and were intended to affect the client's federal tax liability in a manner that benefited the client at the expense of the IRS and the American taxpayer.
Lampley admitted that in 2024 she prepared and filed a federal income tax return for herself for the 2023 tax year that falsely reported her income as $52,343. Lampley said she knew the reported income was false because it failed to include fees she earned from preparing clients' tax returns and withheld from their refunds.
Central Islip, New York: Luann Middleton, a former U.S. Postal Service employee, was convicted of wire fraud in connection with her repeated submission of false workers' compensation forms to the Department of Labor, in which she claimed total disability, and thereby received approximately $40,000 per year in federal workers' compensation benefits for nearly 25 years. When sentenced, Middleton faces up to 20 years in prison, as well as financial penalties.
Middleton, who is in her mid-forties, claimed that she had sustained an injury to her lower back while performing her duties as a postal clerk. Middleton submitted a claim for compensation to the DOL and began receiving workers' compensation benefits approximately three months later. Middleton briefly returned to work in a limited duty capacity in February 1999, after a medical doctor found that she was in fact capable of working, but then claimed she had a recurrence of her back injury, which rendered her totally and permanently disabled. She again began receiving workers' compensation benefits — roughly two-thirds of her annual salary, tax-free — from the DOL.
However, the investigation revealed that between October 2015 and March 2022, Middleton engaged in numerous physical activities, including cleaning out a garage and standing for more than one hour at a cookie decorating class.
Records from USPS and DOL indicate that Middleton received more than $900,000 in fraudulent workers' compensation benefits as the result of her claimed physical limitations.
