Gary B. Bertoni, Employment Tax Fraud, Oregon 2009

Grimy Times has learned that Bertoni & Associates LLC, a law firm based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is at the center of a massive employment tax fraud scheme. According to a federal indictment, the law firm’s owner, Gary B. Bertoni, allegedly willfully failed to collect, truthfully account for and pay over federal employment taxes to the United States.

Between 2009 and 2011, Bertoni failed to pay over to the IRS employment taxes withheld from his employees’ wages as they became due. The indictment further alleges that Bertoni failed to remit monies withheld from employees’ wages for various employee benefits, including health insurance and retirement account contributions.

Instead, Bertoni caused his law firm to make thousands of dollars of expenditures for his personal benefit during the 2009 through 2011 calendar years, including payments to his personal bank account totaling more than $300,000.

Grimy Times has learned that the indictment charges Bertoni with 10 counts of willfully failing to collect, truthfully account for and pay over federal employment taxes to the United States.

The alleged scheme has far-reaching consequences, with Bertoni facing a maximum of 50 years in prison and a maximum fine of $2.5 million if convicted.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Stuart A. Wexler and Quinn P. Harrington of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, with assistance from agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation.

Bertoni, a resident of Lake Oswego, Oregon, is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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