IRS impersonation; Lootland; conduit scheme; and other highlights of recent tax cases.
Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Joseph Manzi, the former director of finance, operations and development for the Church of Saint Leo the Great in Lincroft, New Jersey, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1 million from the church after using the congregation's credit card like his "personal piggy bank" to splurge on gifts for himself, including a Cadillac SUV.
Manzi, 78, of Atlantic Highlands, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree theft by unlawful taking and one count of third-degree filing a fraudulent tax return.
He is now facing a possible sentence of five years. He will also have to pay restitution of $1.2 million to the church and $73,032 in unpaid taxes to New Jersey.
A complaint filed against Manzi in October 2025 said church officials only discovered his crimes after his employment with them ended in June last year. A review of the church's credit card found Manzi made unauthorized charges for his personal benefit.
In addition to the Cadillac SUV, church officials found payments for vehicle repairs, financing, luxury clothing and personal home repairs. He also used the church's credit card to cover medical and dental expenses, fishing trips and on sports event tickets, including New York Yankees games.
A preliminary investigation found that Manzi embezzled $673,874, while a further investigation identified additional stolen funds, tax fraud and evasion.
Manzi, who is a graduate of Villanova University, describes himself on his LinkedIn profile as "a high-performance individual with expertise in diversified financial, administrative and operations positions."
Rockford, Illinois: A Rockford man will spend three years in prison for defrauding the federal government with COVID-relief loans and engaging in tax fraud through a fake business called "Lootland Tax Prep."
Between 2021 and 2022, Absalom Hall, 37, used the Paycheck Protection Program to obtain approximately $85,401 in COVID-era relief loans by using false statements and misrepresentations on the multiple applications he submitted.
Additionally, Hall presented himself as a tax preparer, even though he did not have an IRS-issued tax ID number, and prepared tax returns for others and collected compensation for the service. He never reported the income on his 2021 or 2022 tax returns.
Hall pleaded guilty to wire fraud, tax fraud and money laundering charges in December 2025. He was sentenced to prison and a $30,866 fine.
Las Vegas: Francisco Ivan Velazquez, a Mexican national, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for operating a scheme in which he claimed to be an IRS officer. The government recommended a sentence of 96 months in prison.
Velazquez falsely held himself out to be an employee of the IRS and claimed to his victims that he could secure large monetary payments for them from the IRS. Velazquez asserted that these funds were available from a purported IRS program that allowed people who had previously lost a home to foreclosure to recoup money by applying to the IRS and filing certain documents. He advised the victims that, in exchange for a fee, he would submit an application for them to recover the funds.
In some instances, Velazquez then helped present a false tax return to the IRS on behalf of a victim claiming the victim had federal tax withholdings of $100,000 or more, and requested the withholdings be refunded. Velazquez's criminal scheme sought at least $1.8 million from the IRS.
Velazquez was convicted of three counts of wire fraud, one count of aiding the presentation of a false tax return and two counts of impersonating an IRS officer.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Velazquez was ordered to pay approximately $199,198.52 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.
Sacramento, California: A longtime California political consultant — and a former top aide to Gov. Gavin Newsom — pleaded guilty in a federal corruption case tied to an alleged scheme to steal campaign funds from Xavier Becerra when he served as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary.
Dana Williamson, 53, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, filing a false tax return and making false statements to a federal agent.
Williamson and multiple co-conspirators participated in a "conduit scheme," in which campaign money was diverted from a dormant political account associated with Becerra and funneled to Sean McCluskie, who was Becerra's former chief of staff. McCluskie previously pleaded guilty in the case.
The scheme involved fabricating contracts and disguising payments as legitimate campaign expenses while secretly benefiting McCluskie and others involved. Approximately $225,000 was improperly diverted through the operation.
Williamson lied to the FBI during the investigation, which included wiretaps and seized communications.
Williamson, once considered one of California's most influential Democratic strategists, previously served as chief of staff to Newsom and held senior roles under former Gov. Jerry Brown. She also worked closely with Becerra during his political career.
Williamson faces up to 30 years in prison on the fraud charge, along with additional penalties tied to the tax and false statement counts.
Burtonsville, Maryland: A Maryland woman was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for preparing false tax returns for clients.
Zewdi Tsegay, of Burtonsville operated a tax preparation business initially called Taxes R Us LLC. From 2017 through 2023, Tsegay prepared and filed with the IRS false tax returns on behalf of clients. These tax returns included false business losses that resulted in either the clients receiving tax refunds that they were not entitled to receive or the clients' tax liabilities being decreased. After Tsegay learned she was under investigation, she changed the name of the business to Taxes 4 You LLC.
In March 2020, the IRS conducted an undercover operation at Tsegay's return preparation business. Tsegay initially prepared the undercover agent's tax return correctly, which reflected that the undercover agent owed taxes. Tsegay then added a fictitious business loss to the undercover agent's tax return, which resulted in the return improperly claiming a refund.
Following a search warrant at her tax preparation business, Tsegay continued to prepare and file false returns on behalf of clients under the name of another individual. Further, from 2021 to 2023, Tsegay was required to file tax returns for herself, but she willfully failed to do so by the statutory deadline.
In total, Tsegay caused a tax loss to the U.S. between $250,000 and $550,000.
Tsegay pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false tax return. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Tsegay was ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay $178,480 in restitution to the U.S.
Seattle: Former Seattle-area real estate broker Michael D. McGuire was convicted of wire fraud and tax evasion. McGuire was sentenced to 46 months behind bars and ordered to repay $1,066,388.64 to investors and the IRS.
McGuire misrepresented investments and failed to report income to federal tax authorities.
McGuire's sentence lands in the middle of a string of real-estate investment crackdowns that have hit the Seattle area in recent years.
McGuire was convicted of wire fraud and tax evasion, both federal felonies. Each wire fraud count can mean up to 20 years in prison, and tax evasion can mean up to five years. McGuire was ordered to pay $1,066,388.64 in restitution.
