Las Vegas, Nev. – Following a three-day jury trial, Howard J. Awand and his wife, Linda M. Awand, were convicted by a jury at 9:00 pm on January 7, 2009, of four counts of Willful Failure To Pay Tax, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Howard and Linda Awand, formerly of Las Vegas, Nevada, but currently residents of Vevay, Indiana, and Stowe, Vermont, were the owners of Nevada Medical Consultants (NMC), a medical consulting services company. NMC was taxed as a partnership, and the Awands were responsible for reporting their share of NMC's income on their joint personal tax returns. For the tax years 2001 to 2004, NMC reported total taxable income of approximately $9 million. For the same years, the Awand's reported total personal taxable income of approximately $7 million. The total tax the Awand's owed for those years was approximately $2.6 million. The government presented evidence at trial to show that the Awands paid $60,000 toward the $2.6 million, but that the payments were not made until after the Awands discovered that they were under investigation by the IRS. The government also presented evidence that instead of paying their taxes, the Awands purchased a $1.6 mansion in Stowe, Vermont (with cash), a $215,000 Bentley automobile, and many other luxury items, such as expensive antique furniture and wine, and held lavish parties at a home they owned in Big Bear, California. Defendant Howard Awand also testified at trial that he falsely told people that he had served in Vietnam and that he had been in the CIA in order to drum up business for his medical consulting company.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 7, 2010. The defendants face up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine on each count.

The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Steven W. Myhre and Kathryn C. Newman.

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