Former Tax Planning Firm Executive Sentenced in Salt Lake City for Tax Offense

WASHINGTON - Patrick Merrill Brody was sentenced on May 6, 2011, to 10 months of prison, 12 months of supervised release and ordered to pay the costs of prosecution for willfully failing to file a federal income tax return for 2001, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Brody’s sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups followed a week-long trial in October 2010. According to the evidence at trial, Brody’s obligation to file a tax return for 2001 arose from the income he received for work in connection with his tax planning firm, Merrill Scott & Associates. The business was shut down and placed into receivership by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in early 2002 for alleged securities fraud. The civil suit resulted in a judgment against Brody for more than $16 million. Brody earned more than $500,000 in income from Merrill Scott & Associates during 2001, but deliberately failed to report the income and its tax liability on a federal income tax return.

This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and was prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Brian Bailey and Elizabeth Hadden.

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