Lake Orion Man Sentenced For Filing False Tax Returns

Edward Weglarz of Lake Orion, Michigan has been sentenced for willfully filing a false Federal Income Tax return, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.  McQuade was joined in the announcement by Acting Special Agent in Charge Carolyn Weber, of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations.      

Weglarz pleaded guilty on Tuesday, December 17, 2013.  On June 23, 2014, U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen, sentenced Weglarz to six months confinement at a community corrections center.  Weglarz will also be required to serve a term of three years of supervised release following completion of the prison term and perform 120 hours of community service as a volunteer at Focus Hope.

Weglarz stipulated that the tax loss to the government is $ 86,581, and has agreed to pay that amount in restitution to the United States. 

According to court documents, Weglarz operated Eastern Market Tanker Leasing (EMT) of Dearborn, Michigan.  EMT was engaged in interstate trucking and Weglarz, as the president, controlled its operations and finances. For the tax years 2006, 2007 and 2008, Weglarz caused EMT to pay more than $600,000 in personal expenses for himself and disguised the payments in EMT’s books and records as legitimate business expenses. Weglarz also diverted EMT’s funds to Multivest Properties, another company that he controlled and falsely classified these payments as legitimate EMT business expenses.  These deliberate actions by Weglarz caused EMT’s corporate net income and tax liability to be understated.  Because Weglarz and EMT did not report the payments on the behalf of Weglarz, his personal income was also understated, falsely reducing his gross income and individual tax liability.

“The prosecution and sentencing of Mr. Weglarz, who diverted corporate funds for his benefit and then intentionally filed false corporate and individual income tax returns, is a fundamental element in maintaining public confidence in our tax system,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Carolyn Weber.

Weglarz was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This case was investigated by special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Varner.