Former Accountant of Adult Entertainment Businesses Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud Conspiracy

A former accountant of adult entertainment businesses pled guilty for his participation in a tax fraud conspiracy.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

Paul Anthony Ruggieri, of Parkland, pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

According to court documents, Ruggieri provided accounting and return preparation services to Anthony Andreozzi [Case 9:13-cr-80174], F & A Concepts, Inc. (F & A) and Galaxy Communications, Inc. (Galaxy), two adult entertainment businesses owned and operated by Andreozzi in the State of Florida. Defendant Ruggieri also provided accounting services to the general public through his business, Strategic Accounting Alliance. Ruggieri and Andreozzi conspired for the purpose of unlawfully enriching Andreozzi by engaging in a fraudulent scheme to evade the payment of federal income taxes.

Court documents state that Andreozzi diverted corporate receipts of F & A and Galaxy for his own personal use. In order to conceal his diversion of corporate funds, Andreozzi instructed Ruggieri to falsify the corporate books and records by classifying certain personal expenditures of Andreozzi as business expenses. Ruggieri and Andreozzi caused the preparation and filing of false corporate tax returns for F & A and Galaxy, in that the corporate returns included fraudulent business expenses which reduced each corporation’s income. Ruggieri and Andreozzi also caused the filing of false personal income tax returns for Andreozzi for calendar years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, in that the personal returns failed to include the diverted corporate income, thereby understating on Andreozzi’s personal returns his total income and tax due and owing.

On October 15, 2013, Andreozzi pled guilty to one count of conspiring to defraud the United States. Andreozzi is scheduled to be sentenced on March 6, 2015, at the Federal Courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Ryskamp.

Ruggieri is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17, 2015, at the Federal Courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Ryskamp. Each defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie D. Evans.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.