FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAX

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2000

(202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

TDD (202) 514-1888

MARYLAND MAN INDICTED ON TAX CHARGES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Glen Burnie, Maryland man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Baltimore for filing false personal income tax returns, the Justice Department announced today. Manus E. Suddreth, the sole shareholder of Patapsco Excavating Inc., a landfill and excavating company, was charged in a two-count indictment with filing false income tax returns for 1993 and 1994.

According to the indictment, Suddreth received substantial income in 1993 and 1994, in the form of funds diverted from the excavating firm, which he did not report on his personal income tax returns. The indictment alleges that Suddreth diverted funds from the company by various means, including depositing checks received from Patapsco Excavating's customers into a bank account in the name of another entity that he owned called Patapsco Excavating/Silverlake Inc.

The indictment further alleges that Suddreth wrote checks on that account that were payable to him personally, or that were payable to third parties for personal expenditures and investments that he made. The indictment also alleges that Suddreth deposited some checks received from Patapsco Excavating's customers directly into his personal bank account, and had other checks received from the company's customers cashed.

The maximum penalty for each count is three years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

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