A Mission Hills woman has been sentenced to prison for her role in a complex tax evasion scheme involving shell companies and secret offshore accounts.
Verna Cheryl Womack, 66, of Mission Hills, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to one year and six months in federal prison without parole.
The court also ordered Womack to pay $1,704,421 in restitution to the IRS, which she paid today.
For nearly 20 years, Womack engaged in a multi-faceted tax fraud involving offshore accounts designed to cheat the IRS. That cheating involved numerous forms of concealment, including sham nominees and trusts as well as false statements made under oath.
According to court documents, Womack failed to report her offshore holdings as required by law in an effort to hide more than $6 million in income from the IRS.
Womack orchestrated the creation of an intricate web of offshore accounts, trusts, nominees and shell companies to conceal millions of dollars in unreported income. She hid her ownership of shell companies and trusts in the Cayman Islands to conceal income earned in the United States, transfer it to the Cayman Islands, and grow it tax-free until she chose to repatriate it to the United States. This resulted in a criminal tax loss of $1,704,421.
Womack began her business dealings in the Cayman Islands in 1995 when she formed the captive reinsurance company MFC Insurance Company in that country, but elected to have it file United States tax returns.
The defendant, Verna Cheryl Womack, was sentenced in federal court today for impeding the work of the IRS by lying under oath about her Cayman Islands businesses, which were used in a scheme to hide millions of dollars in secret offshore accounts.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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