NEW YORK CLOTHING MANUFACTURER SENTENCED TO PRISON
FOR TAX FRAUD

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice, and Nancy Jardini, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation, announced today that at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. District Judge David G. Trager sentenced Louis Estevez to one year and one day of imprisonment, to be followed by one year of supervised release. Mr. Estevez was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. In determining the sentence, Judge Trager found that Mr. Estevez had caused a tax loss to the government of at least $325,000.

Mr. Estevez, 51 years old, of New York City, was charged on May 9, 2003 in a four-count indictment with filing fraudulent corporate income tax returns on behalf of Jasmine Fashions, Inc., for the fiscal years ending May 31, 1993 through May 31, 1996. Jasmine Fashions was a sewing factory that Mr. Estevez owned and operated during the 1990's, located at 248 McKibbin Street, Brooklyn, NY. Following his arrest on September 26, 2003, Mr. Estevez was released on bond, but confined to his home under electronic monitoring. On March 30, 2004, Mr. Estevez pled guilty to Count 4 of the indictment, which charged him with filing a fraudulent corporate tax return for the 1996 fiscal year.

Assistant Attorney General Eileen J. O’Connor thanked Tax Division Trial Attorney James Chapman for prosecuting the case. She also thanked the special agents of the Internal Revenue Service, whose assistance was essential to the successful investigation and prosecution of the case.

Additional information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax.

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