SOUTH BEND – Michael Closson, 52, and Laquita Closson, 49, of Goshen, Indiana, were convicted yesterday by US District Court judge Jon E. DeGuilio, US attorney Bell announced.
According to records in this case, Mr. and Mrs. Closson are married and own a lawn maintenance and snow removal company in Goshen, Indiana. You have been sentenced after each confession of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Mr. Closson also pleaded guilty to an additional number of tax evasion.
The Clossons have been asked to repay $ 662,027.00 to the IRS. $ 298,300.75 to the Indiana Department of the Treasury; and $ 64,732.39 to Medicaid. In addition to the restitution, Mr. Closson was sentenced to prison and Ms. Closson was sentenced to prison.
During the 2012-2016 tax years, the Clossons purposely withheld their income from the IRS by filing false joint income tax returns that failed to disclose their actual income. The Clossons did not report gross income of more than $ 2 million, which resulted in them evading more than $ 600,000 in federal income taxes and nearly $ 300,000 in state income taxes. The Clossons also submitted bogus Medicaid claim forms that enabled them to illegally obtain Medicaid benefits valued at nearly $ 65,000. The Clossons own two homes, a timeshare, luxury handbags valued at over $ 10,000, and four vehicles including a Lamborghini and a Cadillac Escalade.
“Honest and law-abiding taxpayers are fed up with using fraud to fill their pockets with other people’s money and evade their tax obligations,” said Tamera Cantu, IRS Criminal Investigation, special commissioner in charge. Chicago branch. “Today’s conviction is a direct result of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s collaboration with the Indiana Northern District Attorney’s Office to protect America’s honest, hard-working taxpayers,” said Cantu.
The case has been investigated by the Internal Revenue Service of the Criminal Investigation Division. This case was being prosecuted by US assistant attorney Luke N. Reilander.
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