PAKISTANI NATIVE PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX FRAUD

Furqan Mian Mehmood, 39, of Boise, Idaho, entered a guilty plea to one count of filing a false tax return and one count of making a false statement to a federal agency, the United States Attorney’s Office announced.

Mehmood is a native of Pakistan who entered the United States as a student in 1988. Mehmood worked as a real estate broker and agent in Boise, and formed two corporations through which he conducted his real estate transactions. In 2005, Mehmood filed federal tax returns for 2002 and 2003 that failed to report the income that he and his corporations received from his real estate transactions.

In the plea agreement, Mehmood admitted to filing a false tax return for 2003, claiming an adjusted gross income of $11,136 with a refund of $3,946 due. Mehmood failed to include approximately $65,546 from an S Corporation and approximately $56,594 from unreported gross receipts. As part of the plea agreement, the Government will recommend that the Court order over $200,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for unreported income for tax years 2002 through 2005.

With respect to the false statement, Mehmood was interviewed by the Department of Homeland Security concerning his application for permanent residence status. During the interview Mehmood gave false answers to questions asked by the immigration official regarding Mehmood’s marriages.

In August 2008, a federal grand jury in Boise returned an eight-count indictment against Mehmood for the above-mentioned offenses.

Sentencing is set for August 5, 2009, in Boise, Idaho before Chief United States District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

Mehmood faces a maximum sentence of five years of incarceration for making false statements and three years of incarceration for filing false tax returns.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.