East Hartford Man Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SHAUKAT G. DALAL, also known as Shaukathusein Dalal, 55, of East Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to four months of imprisonment, followed by six months of home confinement and three years of supervised release, for tax evasion.  He also was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, DALAL was employed by the State of Connecticut as a Fiscal Administration Assistant, and also owned and operated a separate tax preparation business, Tax Preparation SVS Inc.  For the 2009 through 2011 tax years, DALAL, who had prepared more than 250 tax returns as part of the tax preparation business, did not deposit all of the gross receipts from the business into his business bank account and subsequently understated his gross receipts on his federal tax returns.

DALAL and his wife also owned Ameen LLC, a holding company that owned 25 rental units in an East Hartford condominium complex.  DALAL performed virtually all of the work for the real estate business, including collecting rent receipts, pricing the units, organizing repairs and maintenance, depositing rent receipts, paying the bills and maintaining the books and records.  DALAL did not deposit a substantial portion of rent receipts, often paid to him in cash, into Ameen LLC’s business bank account and substantially underreported both the applicable income and taxes due and owing on his 2009 through 2011 federal tax returns.

Through this scheme, DALAL failed to report nearly $400,000 in income.

Judge Underhill ordered DALAL to pay $97,289 in back taxes, plus applicable penalties and interest.

On December 2, 2015, DALAL pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.  He was ordered to report to prison on July 20, 2016.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.