Related Federal Cases
Alaska Plastic Surgeon Indicted on Tax Evasion Charges
Anchorage Plastic Surgeon Michael D. Brandner has been indicted on three counts of tax evasion charges for concealing bank accounts in Panama and Costa Rica, according to the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Brandner, who specializes in plastic surgery, was charged with tax evasion for the years 2008, 2009, and 2010. He also faces seven counts of wire fraud in a separate indictment returned in September 2013.
According to the superseding indictment, Brandner engaged in various activities to evade his taxes, including making false and misleading statements to IRS special agents and filing false tax returns for each of the three years.
In the three false returns, Brandner failed to report the existence of financial accounts in Panama and Costa Rica over which he had signature authority, and also failed to report foreign interest income of more than $9,000 for 2008, more than $150,000 for 2009, and more than $150,000 for 2010.
The indictment also alleges that Brandner attempted to evade more than $600,000 in federal income taxes over the three years.
Brandner’s case is a result of a scheme to hide and conceal millions of dollars of assets from the Alaska courts and from his wife of 28 years who was divorcing him.
According to court documents, shortly after the divorce was filed, Brandner left Alaska and drove to Central America after converting assets into five cashier’s checks worth over $3,000,000.
An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Brandner faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for each of the three tax evasion charges and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of the seven wire fraud charges.
The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and by Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ignacio Perez de la Cruz of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder for the District of Alaska.
Key Facts
- State: Alaska
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Tax Evasion
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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