Jefferson County Couple Indicted for Falsifying Tax Return

                BEAUMONT, Texas –A Jefferson County business owner and his wife have been indicted on federal tax violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown today.

Dick Brocato, Jr., 68, and his wife, Judith L. Brocato, 65, both of Beaumont, Texas, were named in a seven-count indictment charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States for purposes of impeding government functions and six counts of making a false return.   The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on Sep. 4, 2019.  The defendants made initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith F. Giblin today.

According to information presented by prosecutors, the Brocato’s owned a lawn service company, Superior Lawn Service, which was operated for tax purposes as an S corporation.  The Brocato’s are the sole shareholders of the company with Judith Brocato as corporate president, maintaining the books and records of the corporation, and signing the corporate tax returns in that capacity.  The Brocato’s are alleged to have conspired to defraud the United States for the purpose of impeding, impairing, obstructing, the lawful government functions of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the ascertainment, computation, assessment, and collection of federal income and other taxes for years 2012, 2013, and 2014. As part of that conspiracy, it is alleged that that they filed false corporate and personal income tax returns for years 2012, 2013, and 2014.  To facilitate the scheme, the Brocato’s are alleged to have underreported income received by checks from numerous customers of the company and having the checks cashed and converted to cash rather than depositing the checks into the company accounts and then failing to report the amount on the various tax returns. According to the indictment, the underreported income amounted to $503,281 in 2012, $687,534 in 2013, and $513,498 in 2014.    

If convicted, the defendants each face up to five years in federal prison for the conspiracy charge and up to three years for each of the false return charges.

This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert L. Rawls. 

A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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