Manager of Club Tropicana in Espanola Sentenced for Conviction on Federal Tax Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – Edward Albert Marquez, 69, the manager and operator of Club Tropicana in Espanola, N.M., was sentenced today to three years of probation, including eight months of electronic monitoring, for his conviction on federal tax charges.  Marquez also was ordered to pay $297,842 in restitution to the IRS at a rate of $8,000 per month. 

Marquez entered a guilty plea on May 1, 2014, to a two-count felony information charging him with making and subscribing a false tax return, and aiding and assisting the presentment of a false tax return.  Count 1 charged Marquez with filing a tax return for tax year 2009 in which he reported no income from Club Tropicana when in fact he received income from Club Tropicana resulting in a tax loss to the United States of $32,701.  Count 2 charged Marquez with assisting in the preparation of a tax return for Club Tropicana for tax year 2009 which failed to report income and resulted in a tax loss to the United States of $81,040.

In his plea agreement, Marquez admitted filing false tax returns and assisting in the presentation of false tax returns to evade the assessment of federal taxes by the IRS.  Marquez admitted that from 2007 to 2009, he “skimmed” money from Club Tropicana, then a bar and package liquor store in Espanola which he operated and managed.  Marquez knowingly provided information that falsely underreported the gross income generated by Club Tropicana in the club owner’s tax returns for tax years 2007, 2008 and 2009.  Marquez also admitted taking cash from Club Tropicana’s gross receipts, deposited the cash in his personal bank account, and failed to report this income in his 2007, 2008 and 2009 tax returns. The false returns filed by Marquez and  which Marquez caused to be filed resulted in an aggregate of $297,842 in tax losses to the United States.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque and Santa Fe offices of IRS Criminal Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kotz.