New York Businessman Pleads Guilty to Tax Crimes

Antonio Morales, a resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York to aiding in the preparation of a false federal tax return, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

According to court records and admissions made by the defendant in court today, Morales owned T&R Environment Corp., a construction and sanitation business located in Brooklyn. Morales cashed T&R’s business checks at a check casher and falsely informed his return preparer that T&R was an inactive company. Morales then filed four false corporate income tax returns for tax years 2004 through 2007 that reported no gross receipts for T&R even though T&R generated gross revenue of at least $472,337 during that four year period. Morales admitted that his failure to report T&R’s gross receipts caused a tax loss to the IRS approximating $160,593.

Morales faces a potential maximum sentence of three years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. A sentencing date has not been set.

The case was investigated by IRS - Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Mark Kotila and Jeffrey Bender of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.