Thomas M. DiBiagio, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland,
and Vicki S. Duane, Special Agent in Charge of the Baltimore Field Office,
IRS-Criminal Investigation Division, announced today that a Baltimore
man has been sentenced to thirty-three (33) months in prison and ordered
to pay back taxes, penalties and interest for attempting to evade the
assessment and payment of approximately $2.9 million in estate taxes
owed when his mother died in Australia.
Eric H. Heydemann, 41, who presently resides in Baltimore, was sentenced
by the Honorable Marvin J. Garbis in United States District Court in
Baltimore as a result of a guilty plea he entered on May 9 to one count
of attempting to evade the estate taxes due on his mother's estate.
In addition to ordering the prison term, the Court also ordered Heydemann
to serve three years on supervised release and to cooperate with the
Internal Revenue Service in assessing and collecting the taxes due from
him.
In a statement of facts presented to the Court by Assistant United States
Attorney Dale P. Kelberman at the time of Heydemann's guilty plea, the
evidence showed that Heydemann became the personal representative for
the estate of his late mother, Maija, who died in March, 1996 as the
head of the Baltimore Instrument Company. At the time of her death,
Ms. Heydemann's estate consisted of property having a value in excess
of $6 million.
According to the statement of facts, Heydemann sought to evade the assessment
and payment of the estate taxes by firing the attorney retained to represent
the estate and transferring over $4 million from the estate into personal
bank accounts he controlled. Heydemann then attempted to wire transfer
those funds to a Swiss bank account, and when that attempt was unsuccessful,
he obtained a cashier's check for the $4 million which he deposited
to a Swiss account. Heydemann then fled the United States and established
residency in the Bahamas, at which time he sold his Baltimore condominium
for a loss.
Heydemann returned to the United States in December, 2001, to face the
charges.
The conviction is the result of an investigation conducted by the Baltimore
Field office of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation.
