August 9, 2018 – Law Office of John R. Teakell

What to Do If You Are Charged With Tax Evasion

teakelllawcom on August 9, 2018

What is Tax Evasion?

“Tax evasion” as it is generally called, is prosecuted in federal court as a felony offense that is either actually evasion of the payment of federal taxes, or the failure to file a federal income tax return. Charges sought by the U.S. Attorney that are prosecuted in federal court are often: 1) Tax Evasion; 2) Filing a False Tax Return; 3) Failure to File a Tax Return; 4) Conspiracy to File False Tax Returns; and/or 5) Money Laundering.

Difference Between Tax Evasion and Owing Money

The government has to prove willful intent to evade taxes, and such a case is targeted and prosecuted not just because the Internal Revenue Service determines that a person owes more money in taxes than claimed. The evidence would have to prove that there is a large amount of income that the person did not report for tax purposes and/or there is a pattern of continued non-reporting a percentage of income that is more than small amounts.

Investigations

These investigations are time consuming and take months or years to complete. Tax evasion and related investigations are conducted by federal agents of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division. These cases are investigated and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office, that is, the federal prosecutor’s office. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division may also be involved in the prosecution of some criminal tax cases.

What to Do If You Are Investigated for Tax Crimes

An experienced federal defense attorney who has defended many of the U.S. Attorney’s / Department of Justice’s tax prosecutions will be able to determine the government’s theory of prosecution. The experienced federal defense attorney can learn of the government’s evidence before you are formally charged. This is the preferred strategy, that is, to digest the government’s evidence against you so you can provide favorable evidence of which the government may not be aware. Providing evidence in your favor will show good faith to continue to keep formal charges off of you, while you are working to try to convince the federal prosecutor and agents that you should not be prosecuted.

Pro-Active Defense

You want to try to present evidence in your favor to the U.S. Attorney or the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys in order to try to prevent prosecution, and to lessen any charges. If the prosecution lessens charges but wants to proceed, your attorney can continue to try to have the investigation and case closed without criminal action against you. Contact former federal prosecutor John Teakell, who can determine the best approach with the government for your case.

Forfeiture of Property or Money

Tax evasion or tax fraud charges sometime contain forfeiture provisions, as do Indictments for other cases in federal court. A forfeiture provision provides that an order of forfeiture is granted if the defendant(s) are found guilty of the charges, thereby giving the U.S. Attorney’s Office or the U.S. Department of Justice the ability to seize and forfeit property that was purchased, or partially purchased, with illegally obtained monies. An experienced federal attorney can use this issue to help negotiate a favorable outcome.

Target Status

A “target” of a criminal investigation is a person against whom the prosecutor and law enforcement are working to obtain formal charges, that is, an Indictment. It is a term that is used in both federal investigations and state investigations, although the term “target” is associated more with federal criminal investigations. If you are under criminal investigation, you should take action as described herein to protect yourself.

Need to Know Allegations Against You

If you learn that you are the target of an investigation, you need to learn all you can about the allegations of the wrongdoing, and the source of the allegations. This is done by having your attorney contact the prosecutor to speak with him. Generally, you can at least verify that an investigation is on-going, whether or not you are being targeted, and the focus of the investigation.

Defend / Push-Back

The reason you need to determine the allegation is so your attorney can develop a plan to discredit the allegations. You want to do this as much as possible to dissuade prosecution, prevent a Grand Jury Indictment (formal charges), learn of the charges that are coming, or to try to lessen any charges.

Statements / Interview

DO NOT MAKE A STATEMENT to the law enforcement about the subject area of investigation, whether you are in custody or not. There is no upside to it.

You can learn whether or not you are designated by law enforcement or the federal prosecutor as a target of their investigation by the following.

Interviews of persons who might have information about the areas of the investigation often announce the existence of the investigation. Often, these persons will call to advise that they were contacted by law enforcement.

Target letters are letters sent to a “target” of the investigation by federal prosecutors advising the person that he/she is a target, and furthermore, that he/she is invited to make a statement.

Eventually, if you do not hire counsel to speak to the prosecutor on your behalf, a federal agent will contact you with attempts to get a statement from you. This is usually an attempt to short-cut the investigation by hoping that you will make an admission of guilt.

Actions

You need to hire an experienced federal criminal defense attorney, who knows how to contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine the evidence that exists. The process can often be a lengthy one, so you should not attempt to speak with the prosecutor or agents without experienced counsel. Contact former federal prosecutor John Teakell, who can guide you through the investigation and advise as to presentations of defense evidence, appearances at grand jury or in the federal prosecutor’s office, and case strategy.

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