Resort Operator Pleads Guilty to Filing a False Tax Return

A Scottsdale, Arizona man, who formerly resided in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado to filing a false tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to court documents, William Whittington, 68, filed a false 2010 individual income tax return, on which he underreported his income by more than $390,000.  From 2010 to 2012, Whittington directed that the Springs Resort & Spa, in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a business run by him and members of his family, pay many of his personal expenses, which for these years resulted him underreporting his income by more than $900,000 and not paying more than $360,000 in taxes.

Additionally, from 2003 to 2010, Whittington used two offshore bank accounts in Liechtenstein to generate approximately $9.7 million in investment income.  Whittington did not pay taxes on this income, resulting in a tax loss of at least $1.5 million.  In total, Whittington did not pay at least $1.8 million in taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 9, 2018.  In addition to a prison sentence, Whittington faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Lori A. Hendrickson, Kathleen M. Barry and Sarah A. Kiewlicz, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.