Florida Criminal Defendant Pleads Guilty to Lying on Pre-Sentencing Financial Disclosure Form

A currently imprisoned Florida businessman pleaded guilty today to making false statements on a financial disclosure statement he provided to the Justice Department, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez of the Middle District of Florida.

According to documents filed with the court, Casey Padula, age 51, formerly of Port Charlotte, Florida, made the false statements on a financial disclosure statement he was required to submit to the government after pleading guilty to tax and bank fraud. On July 17, 2017, in the prior prosecution, Padula was sentenced to 57 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit bank fraud. Padula admitted using offshore entities and accounts to commit the tax fraud. Padula also committed bank fraud by carrying out a fraudulent short-sale transaction designed to reduce or eliminate his $1.5 million mortgage at Bank of America. Pursuant to his plea agreement, Padula was required to provide a full and accurate financial disclosure statement to the government. Instead Padula submitted a false financial disclosure statement in which he failed to disclose numerous assets, including a boat valued at almost $340,000, at least $80,000 in cash, and a $90,000 Mercedes he had recently purchased for his daughter.

Padula faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison.  He also faces a period of supervised release and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Chapa Lopez thanked special agents of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant Chief Todd Ellinwood of the Tax Division, who is prosecuting the case.