DOJ Honors Tax Division Attorneys

Karen Kelly and Steven D. Grimberg of the Tax Division have been honored at the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys Director’s Awards Ceremony. (See the article in Main Justice.) Their citations are:

Karen E. Kelly (Tax Division) for her extraordinary dedication and skill in investigating and prosecuting the largest personal income tax evasion case brought in the United States. In United States v. Anderson, Walter Anderson masterminded an elaborate scheme involving several foreign corporations to conceal approximately $450 million in earnings from business ventures and to evade payment of more than $200 million in federal income taxes and District of Columbia use taxes. Anderson pleaded guilty to two counts of federal tax evasion and one count of defrauding the District of Columbia and was sentenced to nine years of imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution. Because of Ms. Kelly’s and AUSA Susan Menzer’s exemplary work and unshakeable determination in this difficult and complex case, justice triumphed and a strong message was sent that federal prosecutors will work tirelessly to unravel even the most complicated tax evasion schemes.

Aleyda Borges-Tognozzi, Juliet Falcon, Wilfredo Fernandez, and Alison W. Lehr (Southern District of Florida); Steven D. Grimberg (Tax Division); and Isabel C. Fleitas-Gruba, Joseph Lozowicki, Alfonso J. Herrera, William Rondon, and Donnell Young (Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division) for the investigation, prosecution, and conviction of the owner and principals of a check cashing store that laundered more than $132 million and put an end to one of the most prolific money laundering operations in South Florida’s history. From August 2005 to January 2008, law enforcement agents unraveled a scheme where Florida construction companies and subcontractors cashed checks in anonymity, in exchange for a commission based on the face value of the check. The defendants, the owners and principals of La Bamba Check Cashing, recruited customers, mostly local construction companies and subcontractors, who avoided paying Social Security and other taxes by cashing checks at La Bamba through shell companies that the defendants owned or controlled. On behalf of their customers, the defendants filed false Currency Transaction Reports and for this service, La Bamba, its owner, and others earned millions of dollars in fees. The three and a half month trial resulted in convictions the corporate defendant, La Bamba and its owner who was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Forfeiture proceeding resulted in an $11 million settlement.