OAKLAND, Calif. – Thomas A. Calise pleaded guilty to tax evasion today in federal court in Oakland, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

In pleading guilty, Calise, 50, of San Ramon, Calif., admitted that during 2004 he was employed with Fidelity Capital Funding where he earned both wages and commissions. During this period, Calise asked his employer to pay some of his commissions for 2004 and 2005 to his spouse. Although he knew he was required to report that income to the Internal Revenue Service, Calise intentionally failed to file tax returns for those years. In 2006 and 2007, Calise asked his employer to issue and pay his salary and commissions to a company that he started and controlled, called TC Financial, rather than to himself. He knew that he was required to report income paid to TC Financial but he intentionally failed to do so. For tax years 2004 through 2007, Calise owed approximately $493,887 in additional tax.

Calise was charged by superseding information on May 5, 2012 with tax evasion. He is next scheduled to appear in court at 10 a.m. on Sept. 18, 2012, for sentencing.

The maximum statutory penalty for each count of tax evasion, in violation of Title 26, U.S.C § 7201, is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Stephen Corrigan and Thomas Newman are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting this case with the assistance of Kathleen Turner. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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