Virginia Anesthesiologist Pleads Guilty to Filing False Tax Returns

George Anderson, 57, an anesthesiologist from Farmville, Va., pleaded guilty today to two counts of filing a false corporate and false individual income tax return, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

Anderson is facing a maximum potential sentence of six years in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 14, 2012, by Chief United States District Judge James R. Spencer.

According to court records, Anderson was the sole owner of Farmville Anesthesia Associates Inc. He attempted to reduce his business tax liability to zero by diverting income to sham entities, such as trusts; deducting the diverted payments on the business’s tax returns; and not reporting the personal use of the diverted funds on his personal tax returns.

Beginning in 2001, Anderson disbursed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bogus expenses out of Farmville Anesthesia’s bank accounts to bank accounts held in the names of trusts and limited liability companies Anderson himself controlled. He then falsely deducted these payments on Farmville Anesthesia’s corporate income tax returns. Later, Anderson spent substantial funds out of the nominee bank accounts for his personal benefit, including for the construction of his personal residence and did not report this income on his personal tax returns. In his guilty plea, Anderson admitted that he filed a false 2007 corporate income tax return on behalf of Farmville Anesthesia Associates. He also admitted to filing a false 2005 personal income tax return.

This case was investigated by agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorney Jonathan R. Marx of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant United States Attorney David T. Maguire are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.