ATLANTA
BUSINESS OWNER MICHAEL MORRISON SENTENCED
FOR INCOME TAX EVASION AND LYING TO SEC
FOR INCOME TAX EVASION AND LYING TO SEC
February 28, 2005
U.
S. Attorney's Office
Northern District of Georgia
75 Spring Street, S.W. - Suite 600
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Tel: 404.581.6000
Fax: 404.581.6181
Northern District of Georgia
75 Spring Street, S.W. - Suite 600
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Tel: 404.581.6000
Fax: 404.581.6181
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia; Gregory Jones, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and James D. Vickery, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, announce that MICHAEL S. MORRISON, 36, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced today by United States District Willis B. Hunt, Jr. on two counts of filing false income tax returns and one count of lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to Nahmias:
MORRISON was sentenced to 3 years, 10 months in federal prison. He was ordered to pay restitution of $1.4 million, ordered to serve 3 years supervised release, and perform 120 hours of community service.
According to the evidence presented in court at today's sentencing hearing, in March of2002, MORRISON submitted to the IRS a Corporation Income Tax Return (Form 1120) of his company, Focus Entertainment International Inc, for the tax year ending June 30, 2001, which was false and fraudulent. MORRISON reported to the IRS that the company's total income was $6,115,985. At sentencing the government's evidence showed that over 3 years MORRISON under-reported income by approximately $2.3 million which resulted in a tax loss of $1.4 million to the United States.
The evidence also showed that in April of 2002, MORRISON submitted a fraudulent Individual Income Tax Return (Form 1040) for the 2001 tax year, which was verified by a written declaration by MORRISON under penalty of perjury. This tax return indicated that MORRISON's "Other Income" for the 2001 tax year was $4,134, when in fact it was approximately $1.4 million.
MORRISON, whose business includes cash-operated "booths" where customers view motion pictures and videos, subsequently reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that "Booth Revenue" was $1,637,342 and $701,376 for the 2000 and 2001 years respectively, and stated that the decline in such revenue was attributed to competition for discount stores that had opened within the past two years within close proximity to the company's locations. Subsequent investigation by the FBI and IRS showed that the reported booth revenue was well below the actual revenue collected because the defendant was "skimming" money and not reporting a substantial part of such revenue. According to the evidence, the "skimming" amounted to over $2.3 million.
Assistant United States Attorney Barbara Nelan prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney or F. Gentry Shelnutt, Chief, Criminal Division, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.