Laura Means, a retired California deputy sheriff, recently received a 15-year prison sentence, as well as significant monetary fines, after being convicted on various criminal counts, including grand theft, money laundering, and filing a false tax return with the intent to evade paying taxes.
In 2006, Ms. Means purchased a vacant six-acre plot of land in Camarillo. On her mortgage application for the property, Ms. Means made various false statements. Furthermore, even though the six-acre lot was not legally subdivided, Ms. Means began marketing smaller one-acre lots for sale on the property.
Ms. Means found two buyers for the property. Ms. Means convinced the purchasers to release their purchase funds from their escrow accounts based on the representation that she was going to make improvements to the property. The buyers released the funds, but Ms. Means never made any improvements to the property.
Ms. Means received $285,000 from one purchaser in 2007 and $285,000 from the other purchaser in 2008. Instead of improving the property as promised, Ms. Means used the funds for personal expenditures, including personal bills, remodeling her kitchen, credit card bills, and residential mortgage payments. Most importantly, for the interests of the California Franchise Tax Board, Ms. Means did not report the cash she received from the buyers as income to the FTB.
Ms. Means not only received a 15-year prison sentence, but she must also pay restitution to the victims, as well as $155,692 as restitution to the FTB for failing to report her income.
California Franchise Tax Board
Among various other programs, the FTB administers two of California’s major tax programs: Personal Income Tax and Corporation Tax. In this regard, FTB authorities are charged with ensuring that California residents report and pay all taxes owed to the state.
Under California law, any person who fails to pay any required tax to the state is subject to “a penalty of 10 percent of the tax, in addition to the tax or amount of tax, plus interest at the modified adjusted rate per month.” California tax authorities, including the FTB, have been known to be even more aggressive than the Internal Revenue Service in collecting back taxes.
Contact a California tax attorney
While most citizens are law abiding, at least when it comes to filing their taxes, California residents or businesses can still be entangled in tax controversies with government tax agencies, such as the IRS or FTB. Janathan L. Allen, APC’s experienced California tax attorneys can handle any tax controversy with the IRS or California tax agencies. Our tax attorneys have the knowledge and skill to assist you or your business, including preparing and filing missing tax returns, negotiating with tax agencies, or representing you in audits.
Contact our tax attorneys today to for a free consultation to see how we can help. Our tax attorneys are located throughout Southern California, including San Diego.