Andrea M. Dobrozenksy, Tax Fraud and Structuring, Connecticut 2016

New Hartford Woman Sentenced to Prison for Tax Fraud and Structuring Offenses

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut - Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that on January 22, 2016, Andrea M. Dobrozenksy, 62, of New Harford, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to five months of imprisonment, followed by five months of home confinement, for filing false tax returns and structuring currency transactions. Judge Arterton also ordered Dobrozenksy to serve one year of supervised release and pay a $3,000 fine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2007 and 2009, while working as an office manager for a medical practice in Hartford, Dobrozenksy made numerous transfers and deposits from the medical practice business bank account into her personal bank account as compensation for her services to the medical practice and untaken vacation time. During those three years, Dobrozenksy willfully failed to provide her tax return preparer with information concerning her receipt of approximately $247,000 in additional taxable income. Each year, Dobrozenksy signed her completed federal tax return and it was filed with the IRS. As a result, $247,000 in taxable income was not reported on Dobrozenksy’s federal tax returns for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 tax years, and she failed to pay a total of $76,750 in additional taxes owed.

Dobrozenksy also unlawfully structured financial transactions. On November 27, 2012, Dobrozenksy was at a branch of Farmington Bank in Avon with a friend, David Raymond, who told her to write checks in amounts below $10,000. Dobrozenksy wrote two checks, one to herself for $9,900 and one to Raymond for $9,900. She then cashed the check payable to her and received $9,900 in cash. Raymond cashed the check payable to him and received $9,900 in cash. He later handed the $9,900 to Dobrozenksy.

Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for currency transactions that exceed $10,000. To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often structure their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000. Structuring involves the repeated depositing or withdrawal of amounts of cash less than the $10,000 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements. Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law.

As part of her sentence, Dobrozenksy was ordered to forfeit $9,900 related to her structuring activity. On December 19, 2013, IRS Special Agents interviewed Dobrozenksy at her residence. On that date, Dobrozenksy admitted that she should have reported the additional income on her federal tax returns. She specifically stated that, on November 16, 2007, she wrote a check in the amount of $100,000 on the medical business account payable to herself, received the funds and did not report those funds on her federal tax return. Dobrozenksy also admitted that, as to the structuring violation, Raymond had advised her to keep any payments under $10,000 to avoid filling out a form.

Prior to sentencing, Dobrozenksy paid the IRS $97,986 in back taxes and interest. She also is required to pay penalties on her unpaid taxes. On October 13, 2015, Dobrozenksy pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax return and one count of unlawfully structuring financial transactions. On October 19, 2015, Raymond, of Glastonbury, pleaded guilty to one count of structuring financial transactions. He awaits sentencing.

This matter has been investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John H. Durham and Peter S. Jongbloed.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/new-hartford-woman-sentenced-prison-tax-fraud-and-structuring-offenses