Arvada, Colorado Businesswoman Sentenced to Prison for Filing False Corporate Income Tax Return

Marlene Seo was sentenced today in Denver to one year and one day in prison for making and subscribing a false corporate income tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney Richard E. Zuckerman, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to court documents, Seo owned and operated the National Martial Arts Academy (NMAA).  From 2011 through 2013, she directed that income due to NMAA to be deposited into certain bank accounts, which she did not disclose to her bookkeeper and accountants.  As a result, Seo caused the 2011, 2012 and 2013 federal corporate income tax returns for NMAA to underreport the business’s gross receipts by approximately $650,000. 

Seo pleaded guilty on October 29, 2018, to signing and filing NMAA’s false 2012 income tax return.  In addition to the prison term, Seo was ordered to serve one year of supervised release and to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amount of $238,350.70 and a special assessment of $100.

Principal Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Anahi Cortada and Lisa L. Bellamy of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.