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Press Release

Ludlow Falls, Ohio, Builder Sentenced to 16 Months in Prison for Filing False Federal Tax Return

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Admits to Causing Tax Loss to U.S. of Nearly $380,000

WASHINGTON – Roy W. Bradford was sentenced today in federal district court in Dayton, Ohio, for willfully filing a false federal income tax return for 2004, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. U.S. Judge Thomas M. Rose sentenced Bradford to 16 months in prison and ordered him to pay $379,852 in restitution to the IRS. 

 

On Sep. 22, 2010, Bradford pleaded guilty to willfully filing a false tax return for 2004.  According to court documents, Bradford owned and operated Bradford Builders out of his residence in Ludlow Falls, Ohio. Bradford Builders built wooden frames for residential construction.

 

For the 2003 and 2004 tax years, Bradford filed false Forms 1099 that deliberately inflated the amounts that he paid to his independent contractor crew chiefs. Bradford then used these false amounts from the Forms 1099 to inflate the deductions for labor costs on his 2003 and 2004 individual income tax returns. Bradford also improperly deducted as business expenses many of the costs incurred in constructing his personal residence. Bradford also understated his business income by not reporting money he received for work performed for certain clients.

In addition to falsifying his own tax information, Bradford used false tax ID numbers on the Forms 1099 that he issued to workers who did contract work for him. He also provided false information to an IRS agent during the course of an audit and to another IRS agent conducting the criminal investigation. Bradford admitted that he caused a tax loss of $379,852.

 

“Those who don’t obey the nation’s tax laws and pay their fair share face potentially serious consequences, including time in prison,” said John DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “As the familiar April tax deadline approaches, the Justice Department is making every effort to ensure that those who willfully evade their taxes are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

 

“Tax violations have been erroneously referred to as victimless crimes, but it's the honest law abiding citizen who is harmed when someone tries to manipulate our nation's tax system." said Victor S. O. Song, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation Division. "Wrongdoers will be held accountable for such actions, and today's sentencing is a costly reminder."

 

The case was investigated by IRS - Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Jorge Almonte and Jeffrey B. Bender.

 

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

Updated September 15, 2014

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Press Release Number: 11-019