Date: November 16, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Orlando, FL — U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger has sentenced Wendel Algarin to 30 months in federal prison for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Algarin had pleaded guilty on August 15, 2023. According to court documents, between 2012 and 2019, Algarin operated a scheme to assist various subcontractors in the evasion of payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance premiums. Algarin conspired with the subcontractors to pay their undocumented construction workers "off the books." He facilitated the offense by operating three shell companies that he allowed subcontractors to list as their employees' employers. In return for his assistance with the scheme, Algarin was paid fees of nearly $2 million. He used the funds to live a lavish lifestyle such as by purchasing multiple luxury automobiles. By operating the scheme, Algarin defrauded the United States out of more than $3.5 million in tax revenues. "Mr. Algarin devised a plan to defraud the American taxpayer by establishing shell companies in the construction sector and evading employment taxes. Additionally, he employed undocumented workers, which harmed the workers' compensation insurance industry," said Tara K. Reed, IRS-Criminal Investigation (CI) Acting Special Agent in Charge. "Today's sentencing demonstrates that IRS-CI is dedicated to investigating and building a just and impartial tax system in which all businesses can operate." This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt. CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
