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Defendant Hid Income from IRS to Avoid Paying Taxes
Brian Carn, a Jacksonville minister, pleaded guilty to obstructing the IRS’s efforts to collect his tax debts. According to court documents and statements made in court, Carn operated a ministry under various names, including Healing House Ministries, Inc., Brian Carn Ministries, Inc., and Kingdom Culture City Churches.
In 2016, Carn filed his tax return for 2015 that properly reported that he earned more than $1.4 million in income and owed more than $600,000 in taxes. However, he did not pay those taxes to the IRS and instead came up with a scheme to deceive the IRS.
Carn hired a new accountant and provided him with a fictitious, backdated employment agreement that provided for an annual salary of $120,000 and an annual parsonage allowance of $24,000. He represented to his accountant that this was all the income he earned for the year.
Carn misrepresented his income to third parties on credit applications, financial account openings, and lease applications. He also knew that the income he actually earned far exceeded the purported salary in the employment agreement provided to the new accountant.
In the following years, Carn filed a series of other tax returns that drastically underreported his true income. However, in 2020, he stopped filing tax returns, despite continuing to earn income by using ministry funds to pay for personal expenses.
Carn’s obstruction caused a loss to the United States of between $550,000 and $1,500,000. He faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
Brian Carn, Jr., is set to be sentenced for his crime. The case was announced by Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case. Assistant Deputy Chief David Zisserson and Trial Attorney Max Wilner-Giwerc of the Criminal Division, Tax Section, are prosecuting the case, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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