Source: United States Department of Justice News
A New York man was arraigned today in the Eastern District of New York on charges of tax evasion.
According to the April 8 indictment, from 2009 to 2014, David Seruya, of Brooklyn, was a shareholder of a New Jersey-based home warranty business. In 2014, Seruya allegedly entered into a buyout agreement whereby he agreed to sell his shares of stock back to the business and exit the company. In exchange for his stock shares, the home warranty company allegedly agreed to pay Seruya a total of more than $4.1 million, which included a lump sum payment and installment payments spread out over 24 months. The indictment charges that on his 2014 through 2016 tax returns, Seruya underreported income he received from the sale of his stock. Indeed, Seruya allegedly provided false and incomplete income information to his return preparer for each of those years. In total, Seruya’s tax evasion allegedly caused a loss to the IRS of more than $250,000.
If convicted, Seruya faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each of three counts of tax evasion. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York and Acting Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins of IRS-Criminal Investigation Newark Field Office made the announcement.
IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Shawn Noud of the Tax Division and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Silane for the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.