Karasarides Christopher, Tax Fraud Conspiracy, Ohio 2023

A Cleveland, Ohio man has been sentenced to prison after being found guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States.

Christopher Karasarides, 37, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for his role in a tax fraud conspiracy that involved helping his father, Christos Karasarides Jr., conceal assets from the IRS.

According to court documents, from 2016 through 2022, Karasarides conspired with his father to defraud the United States by helping him hide assets from the IRS. Karasarides' father owed the IRS millions of dollars that it was trying to collect.

To thwart those efforts, Karasarides helped his father conceal assets by storing $239,000 of his father's cash in a safety deposit box in his own name. He also served as a nominee owner for his father's businesses, signed and delivered false promissory notes, and filed false tax returns.

In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent ordered Karasarides to serve three years of supervised release and pay $1.5 million in restitution to the United States.

The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Treasury's Office of Inspector General, Stark County Prosecutor's Office, Ohio Casino Control Commission, and Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission-Major Crimes Task Force.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko made the announcement.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Sam Bean and Hayter Whitman of the Justice Department's Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/ohio-man-sentenced-tax-fraud-conspiracy