Press Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Hawaii
PJKK Federal Building (808) 541-2850
300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 6-100 FAX (808) 541-2958
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
For Immediate Release
Contact: Elliot Enoki
December 9, 2008
KIHEI, MAUI REAL ESTATE AGENT/BROKER
SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR TAX OFFENSES
HONOLULU, HAWAII – BRUCE ROBERT TRAVIS, age 60, was sentenced yesterday by Chief District Judge Helen Gillmor to 24 months in prison for obstructing and impeding the lawful administration of the tax laws by the Internal Revenue Service and filing a false amended federal individual income tax return for the calendar year 2000. TRAVIS, a Kihei, Maui resident, was also ordered to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $14.958.29, as well as costs of prosecution in the amount of $17,828.95, and a fine of $5,000.
Ed Kubo, the United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said according to the July 2007 Indictment, TRAVIS, who worked as a real estate agent and broker, conducted his real estate business on Maui through Americorp International Limited, incorporated in the State of Hawaii, for which TRAVIS was the owner, president, treasurer and director before its dissolution around 2004. Also around 2004, TRAVIS became president, partner and manager of Americorp International LLC, through which he continued to conduct his real estate business.
According to the indictment, TRAVIS signed and filed Form 1040 tax returns for 2003 and 2004 wherein he falsely claimed charitable deductions for payments he made to two entities belonging to or operated by Royal Lamarr Hardy, who was convicted of tax crimes in 2005 in Honolulu.
According to the plea agreement, TRAVIS, while an IRS audit of him was ongoing, also signed and filed false amended individual income tax returns wherein he improperly claimed itemized deductions equal to the adjusted gross income he previously reported on his original Form 1040 tax returns. As a result, TRAVIS falsely claimed that he owed no income taxes for each of the years under audit; that is, 1996 through 2000.
According to the plea agreement, beginning around March 2004, TRAVIS sought and obtained a fraudulent arbitration award from the Western Arbitration Council in the amount of $300,000 against both the IRS and the IRS employee who conducted the aforementioned audit. TRAVIS obtained the fraudulent arbitration award in an attempt to hinder IRS collection efforts.
TRAVIS’ sentence was based on information produced for the court that the tax loss to the United States for the years 1996 through 2004, without any interest or penalties, totaled over $400,000.
The case resulted from an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, and the prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Clare E. Connors and Department of Justice Tax Division Trial Attorney Michael C. Vasiliadis.
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