Attorney Sentenced to Prison in New York Federal Court for Subscribing to False Federal Income Tax Returns

Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York announced that a Glen Ridge, New Jersey, man was sentenced yesterday to serve six months in prison for failing to report income on his tax returns for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 tax years. 

Matthew Libous, 37, was convicted at a bench trial in White Plains, New York, in January 2015.  U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti imposed yesterday’s sentence.

According to the superseding indictment and the evidence presented at trial:

Libous engaged in the practice of law from 2006 through 2008.  Libous deposited the fees he received into his personal bank account but never reported them on his tax return.  In 2008, Libous became a minority partner and manager of Wireless Construction Solutions LLC (WCS), a company that maintained cellular telephone towers.  Libous caused WCS to pay thousands of dollars in his personal expenses on his behalf from 2008 to 2011.  Judge Briccetti found today that Libous failed to report more than $97,000 in income, leading to a tax loss of more than $38,000.

* * *

In addition to the prison sentence, Libous was sentenced to one year of supervised release, a $25,000 fine, 100 hours of community service and costs of prosecution.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Bharara thanked Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the investigators from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, who investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney James McMahon and Tax Division Trial Attorney and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kameros of the Southern District of New York-White Plains Division, who prosecuted the case.