Pittsburgh Jeweler Sentenced To Probation For Failing To File IRS Forms

PITTSBURGH - A Pittsburgh jeweler has been sentenced in federal court to three years of probation, a $12,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service on his conviction of failing to file Internal Revenue Service forms for the purpose of evading federal reporting requirements, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today. The first six months of probation will be served in home detention with electronic monitoring.

Senior United States District Judge Gustave Diamond imposed the sentence on Alan Kashi, 32.

According to information presented to the court during the earlier guilty plea proceeding, on March 13, 2012, Kashi, who was engaged in the jewelry business known as Kashi Jewelers located on Fifth Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, for the purpose of evading federal reporting requirements, failed to file an Internal Revenue Service Form 8300, Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business, following his receipt of approximately $12,500 in currency as a payment for a Breitling watch.

The charges against Kashi arose as a result of an undercover IRS investigation of Kashi's sale of high-end jewelry to known drug traffickers for cash. The investigation established that transactions exceeding $10,000 were not, as required by law, reported to the IRS on Forms 8300.

During the execution of a federal search warrant at Kashi Jewelers, $933,025 was discovered in two safes and seized by federal agents. Prior to the sentencing proceeding, Kashi agreed to the Court entering an order forfeiting the money to the United States.

Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Kashi.