Ocean County, N.J., Man Admits Forging IRS Documents To Evade Federal Tax Lien

TRENTON, N.J. – An Ocean County, N.J., man today admitted forging and transmitting documents to evade a federal tax lien, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.     

Charles W. Jarvis, 59, of Toms River, N.J., pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede and impair the administration of the Internal Revenue Code.

According the documents filed in this case and statements made in court:  

In 2012, Jarvis and his wife incurred a federal tax liability of $76,676 due to insufficient tax withholdings in 2009 and 2010. The IRS filed a tax lien against a piece of property that Jarvis’ wife had inherited from her deceased mother’s estate. Jarvis’ wife then contracted to sell the property to a third party, but could not transfer title due to the tax lien. Jarvis forged a “Notice of Tax Lien Release” and a letter purportedly from the IRS falsely claiming that the tax liability had been paid and the lien discharged. Jarvis sent the forged documents to the real estate attorney handling the sale of the property, who provided the documents to the title agent. The sale of the property closed even though the tax lien had not been satisfied.

The count to which Jarvis pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for August 7, 2014.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert M. Geary of the Philadelphia office, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas P. Grippo of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

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Defense counsel:  Robert J. Bowman Esq., Voorhees, N.J.

Jarvis, Charles Information