NEW JERSEY DOCTOR, OFFICE MANAGER CHARGED
WITH CONSPIRACY AND TAX FRAUD

WASHINGTON D.C. - Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division; Christopher J. Christie, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey; and Nancy Jardini, Chief, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, announced today that a federal grand jury in Camden, New Jersey, returned a 17-count indictment charging Anthony Lionetti and Donald DuBeck with conspiracy to defraud the United States, income tax evasion, and willful failure to account for and pay the IRS employment taxes withheld from their employees’ wages.

The indictment alleges that Mr. Lionetti, who resided in Hammonton, New Jersey, was the owner and president of two Lyme disease treatment centers, and that Mr. DuBeck, who resided in Shamong, New Jersey, was the companies’ vice-president and office manager. It alleges that they withheld income, Social Security and Medicare taxes from the wages of employees of the Lyme Disease Treatment Center and Tick Born Disease Group, and made only partial payments of the employment taxes collected in 1999 and 2001. The indictment alleges that Mr. Lionetti and Mr. DuBeck failed to file employment tax returns and used the collected but unremitted taxes for the own personal purposes.

The indictment also alleges that Mr. Lionetti and Mr. DuBeck paid themselves additional income that was not reported to their payroll-processing company, and for which no taxes were withheld. Mr. Lionetti allegedly did not file his income tax returns for the years 1999, 2000, and 2001. Mr. DuBeck, who did file returns in 2000 and 2001, allegedly failed to report all of the income he received.

If convicted, the defendants face maximum potential sentences on each of the charges of five years imprisonment, followed by up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. In addition, they may be liable for the costs of prosecution on the tax evasion and failure to pay charges.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. In the American justice system, a person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty in a court of law.

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