Byron Hale Delavan, Tax and Investment Fraud, Virginia 2023

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A federal jury convicted Asheville businessman Byron Hale Delavan, 63, on 35 counts of conspiracy, tax fraud related to a fraudulent tax shelter, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering in a scheme that spanned from 2011 to 2016.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Delavan’s scheme resulted in losses to victims of over $800,000 and a separate tax loss to the United States of over $400,000.

Delavan offered a fraudulent tax program to individuals in the Tidewater area and elsewhere, where clients paid $10,000 to $12,500 to obtain fraudulent losses to offset their income on tax returns. He purported to deduct business bad debts from non-operational entities he controlled, passing through these losses to client returns as if the clients were actually involved in these entities.

Delavan also solicited business loans and investments from clients, falsely representing they would be used for business purposes. Instead, he used the funds for personal use, including repayment of prior clients and personal expenses such as private school tuition.

The scheme involved Delavan selling gold to certain clients, but making false representations about the value or existence of the gold, or the purpose of the funds obtained.

Delavan is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Judith W. Jagdmann, Chair of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted the verdict.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian J. Samuels is prosecuting the case. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service provided assistance through the Newport News Financial Crimes Task Force.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:18-cr-23.

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