Press Release
FORMER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER SENTENCED FOR TAX EVASION
August 20, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Daniel W. Auer, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, announced today that Harvey Fein, 68, of Coral Springs, Florida, was sentenced before the Honorable William J. Zloch in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Defendant Fein was sentenced today to 24 months of imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Defendant Fein had previously pled guilty to one count of tax evasion in violation of Title 26 U.S.C § 7201.
According to court documents, Harvey Fein was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Florida Design, Inc., a South Florida magazine publisher. As the CFO, Fein created fictitious accounts in the company’s name, over which he had sole signatory authority. In this way, Fein stole legitimate company checks from Florida Design, made them payable to Florida Design, and forged the signature on the legitimate checks. He then deposited the forged checks into the fraudulent Florida Design accounts that he controlled.
According to court documents, Fein filed false income tax returns for tax years 2001 through 2005, in which he failed to report approximately $1.5 million of additional taxable income that he embezzled from the company. The resulting tax loss to the IRS is approximately $440,000.
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bertha R. Mitrani.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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