Related Federal Cases
Tax Evasion Scheme Exposed
Two Detroit-area men, David A. Cusumano and Henry Nino, have pleaded guilty to tax evasion in a federal court, according to a recent announcement by the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Cusumano, a mechanical engineer from Plymouth, Mich., and Nino, an electrician from Northville, Mich., were charged with failing to file income tax returns and maintaining Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificates (IRS Forms W-4) with their employers that falsely claimed they were exempt from tax withholding.
According to court documents, both men admitted to using the services of Florida-based tax fraud promoter American Rights Litigators/Guiding Light of God Ministries (ARL/GLGM). Nino and Cusumano paid ARL/GLGM to submit false and obstructive correspondence to the IRS and to their banks, and to submit complaints to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration that falsely accused IRS employees of criminal conduct.
Cusumano attempted to evade the assessment of his 2003-2008 taxes by failing to file tax returns for each of these years as required by law and by submitting fake financial instruments to the Department of the Treasury in purported payment of his tax liabilities. Nino, on the other hand, attempted to prevent the IRS from collecting his unpaid taxes for the years 1996, 1997 and 2000-2003 by transferring title of his personal residence to a nominee entity called the Michigan Natural Group, using money orders to make mortgage payments, cashing paychecks rather than depositing them in a bank account, and submitting fake financial instruments to the Department of the Treasury in purported payment of his tax liabilities.
The total tax loss associated with Nino’s conduct, for sentencing purposes, is $366,088, while the total tax loss associated with Cusumano’s conduct, for sentencing purposes, is $390,185.
The charges against Cusumano and Nino carry a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 20, 2011. The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Melissa Siskind and Jeffrey McLellan are prosecuting the case.
The Justice Department has been cracking down on tax evasion schemes, with notable cases including a federal district judge permanently enjoining the operators of ARL from the sale of a nationwide tax scam in August 2004, and a federal court in Florida sentencing two promoters of ARL, as well as ARL client Wesley Snipes, to prison for tax offenses in April 2008. In August 2010, three promoters of ARL were each sentenced in the District of Columbia to 10 years in prison, along with ARL founder Eddie Ray Kahn, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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