Just don't tell Doug Shulman.
This Letter Is Ironclad Proof That the IRS Has a Sense of Humor
Just don't tell Doug Shulman.
Just don't tell Doug Shulman.
Doug Shulman believes in third chances: IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who announced the program’s renewal […]
Let this serve as a warning to any would-be embezzlers out there, if you steal, you better report it to the IRS.
42-year-old Collette Snyder of Timonium, MD pleaded guilty earlier this month to filing false tax returns in 2007 and 2008 after she neglected to claim over $382,000 embezzled from her former employer, Towson, MD-based Maple Leaf Title.
As part of her duties at the title company, Snyder had signature authority over the company’s operating, settlement and recording accounts, which allowed her to begin embezzling money from MLT accounts starting in 2007. She deposited company checks directly into her personal bank account, as well as made checks payable to her husband without his knowledge, forging his signature to deposit those checks in an account he was not aware of. At that point, Snyder had been an employee of MLT for two years.
Snyder took around $149,560 in 2007 and $232,968 in 2008. These embezzled funds were used to purchase jewelry, a BMW, trips, home improvements and private school tuition.
Because reporting this money to the IRS without it clearly declared on her W-2 (despite her writing “payroll” in the memo section of company checks she wrote out to herself) would have alerted authorities to the fraud, Snyder neglected to mention the ill-gotten gains. This resulted in an estimated tax loss of $115,529.37 for her 2007 and 2008 returns.
Due to the embezzlement by Snyder and MLT President Anthony Weis, MLT was unable to perform its duties as a provider of settlement services. With MLT’s escrow account drained, existing mortgage notes could not be paid off by MLT, meaning clear and free title could not be passed to the new lender and borrower of those notes. An insurance company that had issued title insurance policies to the borrowers guaranteeing clear title ultimately paid out $3.9 million to financial institutions that held mortgage notes.
Weis pleaded guilty to wire fraud, was sentenced to 78 months in prison and was ordered to pay restitution of $4,007,705, which includes the loss to the title insurance company and the expenses of the individual victims. He began his sentence in May of this year. The interesting part of this story is that Weis stole money intended for his clients’ real estate closings. And then Snyder stole from the company. Birds of a feather…
Snyder faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled her sentencing for February 3 , 2012 at 11:00 am.
“Mortgage fraud adds to the underground economy that erodes the integrity of our tax system and threatens the financial health of our communities. IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to ‘following the money trail’ to ensure that those who engage in these illegal activities are vigorously investigated and brought to justice,” said IRS – Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Jeannine A. Hammett.
The IRS, in its continuing effort to squeeze every last dime out of every single one of us, is planning 6,000 audits of companies and their compliance with employment taxes over the next three years.
The Service apparently figured it was about time they started putting the screws to companies since they hadn’t done an analysis since 1984:
Continued, after the jump
The Treasury Department in 2005 estimated, based on the 1984 IRS data, that companies underpay employer taxes by about $14 billion annually. In particular, federal agencies have raised concerns about whether employers are properly classifying workers as company employees or independent contractors.
The Service isn’t wasting any time, already proposing a $14 million tax on FedEx after auditing the courier’s 2002 tax return. The Service is also looking at the company’s 2004 through 2008 tax returns, so FedEx should probably get the check book.
The Service is promising to make company’s experience as ‘least burdensome as we can’ but we’re guessing they’re going to want the money, Lebowski, and being a nuisance will probably be of secondary importance.
IRS to Audit 6,000 Companies to Test Employment Tax Compliance [Bloomberg]
IRS Plans 6,000 Employment Tax Audits [Web CPA]