Press Release
Virginia Man Convicted for Filing a False Refund Claim Based on Fraudulent IRS forms
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
He and Wife, a Former Federal Employee, Also Failed to File Tax Returns for Multiple Years
WASHINGTON - Richard Jaensch, a self-employed plumber residing from Annandale, Va., was found guilty today by a federal jury sitting in Alexandria, Va., of one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), one count of filing a false claim for a refund, and four counts of failing to file tax returns for 2004 through 2007, the Justice Department and the IRS announced today.
Jaensch faces a potential maximum prison sentence of 12 years and a fine of up to $900,000 when he is sentenced on March 2, 2012.
According to evidence introduced at trial, Jaensch failed to file personal income tax returns between 2002 and 2007, despite the fact that he was required to do so by law. The first tax return he filed after 2002 was a false 2008 tax return claiming a $774,052 refund based on false Forms 1099-OID that the defendant submitted to the IRS. Over the years, to obstruct the IRS, Jaensch filed numerous frivolous documents and pleadings in Fairfax County, Va.; provided false information to the IRS; and filed a false 2008 federal income tax return, IRS Form 1040.
The evidence also showed that Jaensch caused his wife to present letters to her employer directing them to stop withholding federal income taxes from her salary. The IRS began levying his wife’s paycheck and bank accounts to satisfy her outstanding tax liability and Jaensch continued his obstructive conduct by filing or causing his wife to file correspondence with the IRS claiming that the IRS could not instruct her employer to withhold taxes from her paycheck.
Jaensch’s wife, Janet Jaensch, was a former high-level civilian employee in the Department of the Navy during the time that she was not filing tax returns at her husband’s direction. She pleaded guilty to willfully failing to file a tax return and will be sentenced on Dec. 13, 2011.
This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Rossi from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorneys Jason Poole and Caryn Finley of the Justice Department’s Tax Division prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at www.usdoj.gov/tax/.
Updated September 15, 2014
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