FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

August 10, 2001

Norma Estimbo Lacy
Public Affairs Specialist
Phone: 713/567-9388 Fax: 713/718-3389
E-Mail: usatty.txs@usdoj.gov

HOUSTON BUSINESSMAN PLEADS GUILTY
TO FILING FALSE INCOME TAX RETURN

Albert A. Balboni, Assistant U. S. Attorney
Phone: 713/567-9726

(Houston) Gregory A. Serres, United States Attorney for the Southern District of
Texas, announced today that Mohammad H. Yazdanfard, age 44, pled guilty to filing a false income tax return for the year 1995. Yazdanfard was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this year for filing false tax returns for 1994 and 1995. According to the plea agreement, Yazdanfard was the owner of Rosewood Flowery, Inc. which owned and operated several retail flower stands in the Fannin Street area of Houston. Yazdanfard admitted that many of Rosewood Flowery's customers purchased flowers with cash and that he would remove the cash from the cash registers and deposit much of it into various personal bank accounts. Although all of the cash sales should have been recorded as business receipts of Rosewood Flowery, Inc., Yazdanfard admitted he intentionally failed to provide any record of the cash sales to the return preparer who prepared his federal income tax returns and the returns for Rosewood Flowery, Inc. for 1994 and 1995. Consequently, the income from all of the cash sales during 1994 and 1995 was not reported on either Yazdanfard's personal returns or the corporate returns of Rosewood Flowery. Yazdanfard admitted he intentionally failed to report at least $127,292 in total income from his flower business in 1994 and at least $24,427 in total income from his flower business in 1995. The omitted income for both years would have increased Yazdanfard's total tax bill by approximately $39,000 for 1994 and 1995.

Yazdanfard faces a possible sentence of three years imprisonment, one year supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service and is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office.

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