Date: November 8, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov PHILADELPHIA — United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Michael Goldner, of Paoli, PA, was sentenced to 40 months in prison and three years of supervised release by United States District Court Judge Mark A. Kearney for his scheme to use his cash and his employer's business bank accounts to hide his actual income and assets and therefore avoid paying his legitimate tax obligations. In June 2022, the defendant was convicted after trial of tax evasion and failing to file tax returns in connection with this years-long tax fraud. Evidence presented at trial showed that for the tax years 2013 through 2017, Goldner reported more than $4 million in income and $1.8 million in tax due, of which he paid less than $100,000. Further, from 2016 to 2020, the defendant evaded the payment of these outstanding taxes while earning a substantial income. Instead of depositing his paychecks into a personal bank account, he cashed the checks and used his employer's business accounts to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal expenses, including rent, a second home, groceries, private school and dance lessons for his child, country club dues, and restitution from a prior fraud conviction for which he was on federal probation. For the years 2016 and 2017, the defendant filed tax returns that failed to report this additional income from his employer. For tax years 2018 and 2019, the defendant failed to file a return altogether. "The American tax system funds government services critical to our people," said U.S. Attorney Romero. "Every time someone cheats the system, the burden of providing vital services increases on taxpayers who pay their fair share. As a professional accountant, this defendant knew what his obligations were and willfully schemed to evade them; and for this fraud he will now spend time behind bars." "Our agents have the expertise and investigative tools to uncover tax and financial fraud schemes, no matter how sophisticated the scheme may be," said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty. "Goldner's scheme served no purpose other than to enrich himself, while cheating and stealing from the American public and the government. Anyone contemplating following Goldner's footstep is urged to take a step back and consider the consequences" The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Ignall and Trial Attorney Jack Morgan of the Tax Division of the Department of Justice.
