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Press Release

Tennessee Doctor and His Wife Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Defraud the IRS

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Sought Fraudulent Refunds and Failed to Pay More than $500,000 in Taxes

A Brentwood, Tennessee doctor and his wife were sentenced to prison today for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Jack Smith for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Jeff McCoy Jr., 70, and Andra McCoy, 68, were each sentenced to serve 36 months in prison.

According to documents filed with the court, from 2002 through 2014, Jeff and Andra McCoy conspired to defraud the IRS by impeding the collection of their income taxes. The McCoys filed 2003 through 2007 income tax returns with the IRS on which they claimed fake income tax withholding amounts and sought approximately $2,620,208 in fraudulent refunds. They submitted false documents to the IRS and placed their assets in the names of nominees and in nominee bank accounts. For example, they established a bank account for a purported nonprofit business and directed Jeff McCoy’s employer to deposit his income into the nominee account. In addition to seeking fraudulent refunds, the McCoys also failed to pay more than $500,000 in taxes owed for tax years 2001 through 2008, despite earning more than $2 million during that time.

In addition to the term of prison imposed, Jeff and Andra McCoy were also ordered to each serve three years of supervised release and to pay $913,595 in restitution to the IRS. They previously pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to defraud the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Smith commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Jaworski and Trial Attorney Alexander Effendi, who prosecuted the case.

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

Updated June 27, 2017

Topic
Tax
Component
Press Release Number: 17-708