U.S. Department
of Justice
Fort Walton Beach Man Sentenced To Prison And
ORDERED TO PAY $1.2 MILLION IN RESTITUTION
FOR TAX CRIMES, MAIL FRAUD, AND CONSPIRAC
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Douglas Edward Henderson, 52, of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was sentenced yesterday evening to prison and ordered to pay over $1.2 million in restitution following his guilty plea to an Information that charged five counts of submitting a false tax return, two counts of aiding in the preparation of a false tax return, one count of mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The sentence was announced by Pamela C. Marsh, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
The government’s evidence showed that Henderson, as the president of Henderson Electric Heat and Air Conditioning and Henderson Electric, Inc., both located in Okaloosa County, Florida, caused over $1.8 million in personal expenses to be paid from the business accounts for the years 2008 through 2010 and caused their false classification as business expenses associated with contracts between his companies and MacDill Air Force base. These items were then falsely deducted on corporate tax returns and the personal income was never reported on Henderson’s individual income tax returns.
The government’s evidence further showed that while Henderson knew he was the subject of a federal grand jury investigation, he engaged in a fraudulent short sale of his condominium located in Miramar Beach, Florida, using a family trust and the cooperation of Henderson Electric’s then chief financial officer.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge M. Casey Rodgers sentenced Henderson to 15 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, the first six months of which must be served on home confinement. Judge Rodgers also ordered Henderson to pay $779,122 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and $449,061 to the mortgage lender defrauded during the short sale.