Matthew Reck, Tax Fraud, Louisiana 2019

A federal grand jury in New Orleans, Louisiana, returned an indictment today charging three Louisiana residents with conspiracy to defraud the IRS.

Matthew Reck, a construction company owner from St. Tammany Parish, and his employees Dawn Farrell Ruiz and David Farrell, were charged with conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Reck was also charged with making a false statement to federal agents, and Ruiz and Farrell were charged with aiding in the preparation of false returns.

According to the indictment, from 2011 to at least June 2019, Reck and Ruiz allegedly conspired to defraud the IRS by underreporting their individual compensation and causing to be filed false individual tax returns. Reck and Ruiz allegedly caused to be filed false corporate tax returns, relating to SES Construction Consulting Group (SES) and Global Technical Solutions (Global). Reck co-owned the two construction businesses through at least December 2015, and Farrell worked as a project manager and Ruiz as a bookkeeper for both businesses.

The indictment further alleges that Reck, Farrell, and Ruiz paid some workers “off the books” in cash and did not report the workers’ full compensation to the IRS. When federal agents from IRS-Criminal Investigation subsequently interviewed Reck, he allegedly falsely stated that he had no communications with the accountant for SES and Global regarding the preparation of the companies’ corporate tax returns.

The defendants are scheduled for their initial court appearance on April 9, 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge. Reck also faces a maximum of five years in prison on the charge of making false statements to federal agents, and Farrell and Ruiz face a maximum of three years in prison on each of the charges of aiding in the preparation of a false tax return.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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