North Suburban Businessman Guilty of Evading More Than $2.4 Million in Federal and State Income Taxes

CHICAGO — A north suburban businessman pleaded guilty today to willfully evading more than $2.4 million in income taxes.

ANTHONY D. PANICO, 68, of Libertyville, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.  The conviction is punishable by up to five years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge John Z. Lee set sentencing for Aug. 31, 2021.

Panico owned Libertyville-based AP Capital Management LLC, and he operated, controlled, or was otherwise associated with several other business entities.  From 2010 to 2017, he received more than $9.2 million of income for which he was required to file returns and pay taxes.  Panico admitted in a plea agreement that he willfully failed to file federal or state income tax returns for each of those years, resulting in a total federal and state tax loss of approximately $2,462,934.    

Panico admitted that he attempted to conceal his receipt of income by the creation and use of multiple entities, the use of nominees, misidentifying the use of funds he obtained from banks, paying personal expenses from corporate entities he controlled, and using various trust and nominee entities to acquire real estate and other assets.  Several of the entities used by Panico also failed to file tax returns, the plea agreement states.

The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Tamera D. Cantu, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago; and Jay N. Lerner, Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s Office of Inspector General.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick J. King, Jr.