Florida Man Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Tax Evasion and Bankruptcy Fraud

BANGOR, Maine: A Florida man was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Bangor for attempting to evade federal taxes and engaging in fraudulent transfers and concealment in a bankruptcy proceeding. 

U.S. District Judge Stacy D. Neumann sentenced Paul Archer, 46, formerly of Hampden and Orrington, to 24 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.

According to court records, Archer operated a profitable online marketing business for software installation on computers, earning several million dollars from 2013 through 2015. After an IRS audit in 2016 assessed a federal tax debt totaling approximately $1 million for those years, Archer concealed and transferred assets through two LLCs he controlled and began using third-party bank accounts to evade paying the tax debt.   

From April 2018 through November 2019, Archer transferred and concealed assets and income by using a series of bank accounts held in the names of Max Tune Up, LLC, Stealth Kit, LLC, his father, and his spouse. Using a bank account held by Stealth Kit, LLC, for instance, Archer received income via direct deposits, initiated and received over $2 million in wire payments, and used cryptocurrency trading platforms and online payment systems to transfer funds. Archer transferred an investment account held in his own name to an account held in the name of Stealth Kit, LLC, then engaged in trading activity, stock ownership, and dividend/interest distributions. Archer further owned and transacted in Bitcoin using two different cryptocurrency exchanges, purchasing and later trading several hundred thousand dollars in cryptocurrency.

In March 2019, Archer filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. In his Chapter 7 petition and schedules, Archer falsely claimed less than $50,000 in assets; a single checking account; no other assets or property interests; no recent asset transfers; and no connections to any businesses or memberships in any LLCs. Archer repeated these falsehoods under oath during meetings of creditors convened by a Chapter 7 Trustee, as well as in statements made to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine.

IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI investigated the case.

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