MASS DENTISTS GOES TO PRISON FOR TAX EVASION

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Friday, June 26, 2015

Massachusetts Dentist Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

A Douglas, Massachusetts, dentist was sentenced today to serve 16 months in prison for tax evasion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.  

George Fenzell was indicted in February 2014 by a federal grand jury sitting in Boston on multiple counts of tax evasion and one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  In November 2014, he pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman also sentenced Fenzell to one year of supervised release and ordered him to pay $157,407 in restitution to the IRS.  In sentencing Fenzell, Judge Hillman departed downward from the recommended U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range due, in part, to Fenzell’s cooperation with the government on other matters.

According to court documents, from 1999 through 2012, Fenzell engaged in conduct intended to obstruct the IRS.  For the years 1999 through 2007, he failed to file timely federal income tax returns and concealed income that he earned from his dental practice from the IRS.  Fenzell operated a dental office located in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.  He concealed his dental business receipts by diverting the funds through nominee entities, including River Valley Dental.  He used multiple nominee bank accounts to conceal his ownership of his income and assets.  Fenzell also titled and registered a Lincoln Navigator and Ducati motorcycle with another nominee entity, Smiling Trust, and made extensive use of cash in order to conceal his fraud from the IRS.

In response to a Massachusetts Department of Revenue investigation and collection action in 2007, Fenzell filed his delinquent federal tax returns for 2000 through 2005.  In filing those returns, Fenzell admitted that he owed federal income taxes totaling $129,841.  Fenzell had not made any tax payments to the IRS for those years.  Rather than pay the federal income taxes and additional interest and penalties that were due and owing, between 2007 and 2012, Fenzell evaded IRS collection efforts by diverting his business receipts to nominee entities and using nominee bank accounts in Florida and Rhode Island to hide his income and assets.  During the same period, he falsified his 2006 and 2007 tax returns that he filed late in 2009, and also failed to file his tax returns for 2008 through 2011.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended the special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Assistant Chief John N. Kane Jr. and Trial Attorney Thomas Koelbl of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.  Ciraolo also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Massachusetts for their substantial assistance.

DENTIST CHARGED WITH TRYING TO PULL TAX EVASION SCHEME

FROM:  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Friday, February 28, 2014
Massachusetts Dentist Charged with Tax Evasion

A federal grand jury in Boston has indicted George Fenzell for tax evasion and corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Justice Department and the IRS announced today following the unsealing of the indictment.  Fenzell, of Douglas, Mass., is a practicing dentist with offices in Shrewsbury, Mass., and Brookline, N.H.

According to the indictment, from 1999 through 2012, Fenzell engaged in conduct intended to obstruct the IRS from computing, assessing and collecting his income taxes.  He stopped filing timely tax returns and allegedly tried to conceal his dental practice income in a variety of ways.  The indictment alleges that Fenzell used nominee entities, including River Valley Dental and Brookline Dental Associates Trust, to conceal his dental practice receipts.  The indictment also alleges that he used multiple bank accounts in three separate states, including commingled accounts maintained by third parties, to conceal his ownership of funds.

 According to the indictment, Fenzell used nominees as trustees to make it appear as though other individuals owned and controlled his assets and income.  Finally, Fenzell allegedly falsified his delinquent 2006 and 2007 tax returns and made extensive use of cash in order to conceal his fraud.

The indictment further alleges that in 2007, Fenzell, prompted in part by a Massachusetts Department of Revenue investigation, filed delinquent federal tax returns for tax years 2000 through 2005.  Those returns allegedly reported that he owed approximately $129,000 in federal income taxes for these years, which resulted in a total of more than $300,000 including interest and penalties.
 According to the indictment, between 2007 and 2012, Fenzell allegedly sought to evade IRS collection by making his business receipts payable to nominee entities and by using nominee bank accounts in Florida and Rhode Island to divert and hide collectible income and assets.  The indictment also alleges that Fenzell failed to file his 2008 through 2011 tax returns at that time required by law, and used nominee entities and accounts in an effort to evade his taxes.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.  If convicted, Fenzell faces a statutory maximum potential sentence of five years in prison for each count of tax evasion and a statutory maximum potential sentence of three years in prison for the count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the IRS.

This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agents.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief John N. Kane Jr. and Trial Attorney Robert Kennedy of the Tax Division.