Used Car Salesman Pleads Guilty To Tax Evasion

United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced the guilty plea of JAMES FRANCIS VOLIN, 64, of Inver Grove Heights, for hiding income from used car sales from the Internal Revenue Service. VOLIN pleaded guilty to an Information filed on November 18, 2014, charging him with Income Tax Evasion. He pleaded guilty before Chief Judge Michael J. Davis in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. VOLIN will be sentenced at a future date.

According to his guilty plea and documents filed in court, in 2008 VOLIN agreed to pay nearly $100,000 in outstanding taxes to the IRS. VOLIN still owed the taxes in 2012 and 2013 when he was operating an unlicensed and illegal used car dealership which generated substantial income in cash. Instead of paying the back taxes as agreed, VOLIN hid the income. VOLIN admitted that he did not report the cash income or file tax returns and that he put money into cashier’s checks and used bank accounts opened under another’s name and social security number to avoid detection.

VOLIN was originally indicted earlier this year for structuring bank deposits. “Structuring” is a way of depositing money into bank accounts in amounts less than those required by law to be reported by the financial institution to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). According to that indictment, between April 2012 and April 2013, VOLIN made structured deposits totaling more than $200,000, in amounts insufficient to trigger mandatory reporting to the government.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations and the Minnesota State Patrol Vehicle Crimes Unit.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Lewis.

Defendant Information:

JAMES FRANCIS VOLIN, 64
Inver Grove Heights, MN

Convicted:
• Income Tax Evasion, 1 count

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