FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
February 9, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:11-CR-112

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Elisabeth Ann Bossingham, 53, and Brett Allen Bossingham, 51, of Woodlake, were convicted today of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding the Internal Revenue Service in its ability to assess and collect income tax and four counts each of tax evasion. The guilty verdict was returned by a federal court jury in Fresno after a two-day trial before Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii.

According to testimony presented at trial, Elisabeth Bossingham is a pediatrician practicing in Visalia. Her husband, Brett Bossingham, is a farmer. The Bossinghams properly filed tax returns between 1997 and 1999. In 2000, the Bossinghams began to actively conceal their income from IRS. The defendants proceeded to utilize an offshore bank account, engage in a “warehouse banking” scheme (where depositors pool their money in a single bank account to avoid IRS detection) and participated in creating false liens against their real property in order to “strip” the equity so as to frustrate the IRS in any future collection efforts. The Bossinghams also did not file tax returns from 2000 through 2003, and when they did finally file four tax returns each in 2007, the returns were demonstrably false.

“The verdict shows that no one is above the law,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Marcus Williams. “In today's economic environment, it's more important than ever that the American people feel confident that everyone is playing by the rules and paying the taxes they owe.”

This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Mark E. Cullers and Henry Z. Carbajal III prosecuted the case.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ishii on April 30, 2012. The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of conspiracy to defraud the United States is five years in prison and five years in prison for tax evasion. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

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