A former Salisbury chiropractor has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for filing false tax returns and attempting to obstruct the internal revenue laws, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur for the District of Maryland.
Dr. Warren Gregory Belcher, 60, operated a chiropractic business for nearly 20 years, receiving income for services from insurance companies, patients, and other third parties, including another chiropractor in Baltimore.
From 2009 through 2015, Belcher filed individual income tax returns that fraudulently claimed he had earned no business income, despite receiving total payments of more than $350,000 during that time period.
The evidence introduced at trial included dozens of letters that Belcher sent to insurance companies and other third parties, threatening that the companies could be subject to civil and criminal penalties for reporting payments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Belcher also made threatening statements to an accountant to prevent the accountant from reporting his income to the government, and submitted fraudulent forms to the IRS to falsely represent that companies had not actually paid him the income they reported.
The IRS mailed Belcher notices in 2009 and 2011, informing him that his returns underreported his income, and assessed additional taxes and penalties, including a $5,000 penalty for filing a frivolous tax return.
Belcher responded to these IRS notices by sending letters asserting that the IRS was violating the law by assessing and collecting his taxes.
U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett ordered Belcher to serve one year of supervised release, in addition to the 15-month prison term, and to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $63,763.58.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Hur commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean R. Delaney and Tax Division Trial Attorney Melissa S. Siskind, who prosecuted the case.
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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