November 26, 2003
For Immediate Release
P R E S S R E L E A S E
Raymond A. C. Nip, 64, a certified public accountant in Honolulu, was sentenced yesterday by Chief United States District Judge David A. Ezra to 27 months in federal prison for evading personal income taxes. Nip was convicted for failing to report income on his tax return for calendar year 1994, with the intent of avoiding the payment of income taxes.
Edward H. Kubo, Jr., United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that according to court documents, Nip failed to report total income of approximately $533,784.07 on his tax returns for the years 1993-1997, and that additional taxes of $212,875 were due and owing to the Internal Revenue Service. Criminal charges in the indictment relating to tax evasion for 1995, 1996, and 1997 were dismissed as part of the plea agreement filed in the case, but in the plea agreement, Nip agreed that the tax losses for those years and 1993 should be aggregated with that of 1994 for the purposes of sentencing.
Information produced in court also reflected that the unreported income consisted of money earned through Nip's accounting practice and $202,896.79 in payroll taxes which he collected from a corporate client but failed to remit to the Internal Revenue Service. During the sentencing, Nip admitted using the embezzled money to pay personal debts and maintain his lifestyle.
The investigation was conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division
of the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant United States Attorney Lawrence
L. Tong handled the prosecution.
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