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Press Release

Texas Man Convicted of Tax Evasion

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

A federal jury in the Western District of Texas convicted a San Antonio man today of three counts of tax evasion, announced  Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney John F. Bash for the Western District of Texas.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between October 2000 and December 2013, Robert Steven Powell evaded the payment of more than $900,000 in income taxes for the years 1999 through 2009.  Powell evaded payment of his taxes by submitting false Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Forms W-4 to his employer, which falsely claimed that he was exempt from federal tax withholding.  Powell also placed a house and recreational vehicle in nominee names and attempted to conceal his physical address from the IRS by obtaining identification documents from multiple states using false personal residence addresses.   

Powell evaded the assessment of his 2010 and 2011 tax liabilities by maintaining, rather than correcting, false documents submitted to his long-term disability payer, on which he falsely claimed to be exempt from federal income tax withholding.  Moreover, Powell did not file a tax return for those years, despite an obligation to do so.  In total, the government’s evidence established a tax loss of more than $900,000.

Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.  Powell faces a statutory maximum of five years in prison on each count, as well as a period of supervised release and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney John Bash commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Bill Harris and Trial Attorney Gregory Bailey of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case. 

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

Updated September 14, 2018

Topics
Financial Fraud
Tax
Press Release Number: 18-1202