Alabama Doctor and Husband Charged with Tax Evasion

WASHINGTON – Donna Paul and her husband, William Paul, formerly of Montgomery, Ala., were indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with four counts of tax evasion for the tax years 2004 through 2007, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

John A. DiCicco, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division, and Leura G. Canary, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, made the announcement.

According to the indictment, Donna Paul is a board-certified physician with a specialty in rheumatology. She and her husband operated several non-profit organizations that provided medical services. The Pauls attempted to evade the assessment of Donna Paul’s income by falsely characterizing her income as loans, by making false statements to IRS employees, and by deliberately causing the non-profit organizations to not file tax returns. Donna Paul did not file a U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, IRS Form 1040, between 2003 and 2007 and William Paul has not filed an IRS Form 1040 since the 1980s.

An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Pauls both face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million.

This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Justin Gelfand and Michael Boteler.

More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at www.usdoj.gov/tax/.