Use a fake bond, go to jail

[Demosthenes]

Thursday, December 11, 2008 - 1:56 PM EST
Gainesville woman convicted of tax conspiracy
Atlanta Business Chronicle

A federal jury returned a guilty verdict late Wednesday against Jacqueline Ann Demer of Gainesville on a charge of conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service in the ascertainment, assessment and collection of the income taxes and on five counts of fictitious obligations fraud, relating to the mailing of five fake bonds to the IRS in the supposed payment of income taxes.

The case involved of the income taxes of Jerry Robert Lahr, who pleaded guilty on Dec. 3 to conspiracy charges and testified against Demer at trial.

Demer, using the alias Jessica Dalton, mailed five false and fictitious obligations, captioned “Bond[s] to discharge attachment for debt,” to the IRS in October 2003. These false bonds were submitted as payment of Lahr’s tax liabilities, penalties, and interest for years 1996 through 2000.

Lahr had gross income totaling approximately $2.6 million for tax years 1996 through 2003. However, Lahr neither filed federal income tax returns nor made any payments to the IRS for those tax years. Lahr and Demer conspired to conceal Lahr’s assets, income, and expenditures through the use of bank accounts and shell “trust” entities, all in nominee names.

Beginning in at least 2001, Lahr deposited the proceeds from his sale of life insurance contracts into a bank account titled in the name of “Asset Protection Concepts, LP.” Lahr then transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars of these proceeds into bank accounts opened by Demer in the names of two additional shell companies: “Kingfisher Enterprises” and “Furnace Creek Enterprises.” Demer then made payments from these accounts for Lahr’s personal expenses and the purchase of real and personal property by Lahr.

Great care was taken by Demer and Lahr to keep any reference to Lahr’s names off checks written from the bank accounts. The bank accounts, which contained millions of dollars, were used by other clients of Demer’s and the commingling of funds helped further disguise her clients’ income.

Demer also was the trustee for various shell entities set up to conceal Lahr’s ownership of assets, such as real property and automobiles. The evidence at trial showed Demer used at least 30 different business names and post office boxes in seven different locations, some of which were opened with a fraudulent identification card in the name of her alias, Jessica Dalton. Demer’s own home was titled in the name of another shell entity, which listed Lahr as trustee.

The jury found Demer guilty on all counts: one count of conspiracy and five counts of fictitious obligations fraud. Demer was indicted on April 8, 2008.

Demer faces up to 130 years in prison and a fine of up to $1.5 million.

Lahr could get up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the terms of his plea agreement, he must pay $1.1 million in back taxes as restitution to the IRS and file accurate state and federal income tax returns through the present date.

Sentencing for both Lahr and Demer is set for Feb. 23.

“As the evidence established at trial, the defendants in this case used shell entities, warehouse bank accounts, fraudulent mortgage documents, and phony identification documents and aliases, with the intent of hiding income and real and personal property from the Internal Revenue Service, thereby preventing the collection of hundreds of thousands of dollars in past due taxes,” said U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias. “In addition, they submitted fake bonds to the IRS.”

[Demosthenes]

Source: IRS

Georgia Woman and Co-Conspirator Sentenced in Tax Conspiracy

On April 15, 2009, in Atlanta, Ga., Jacqueline Ann Demer, of Gainesville, Georgia, was sentenced to 63 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $315,829 in restitution and to pay a $15,000 fine. Her co-conspirator, Jerry Robert Lahr, of Hurst, Texas, was sentenced to 37 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,115,444 in restitution. In addition, Lahr has also filed corrected income tax returns through the current tax year. In December 2008, Demer was convicted by a trial jury on charges related to a scheme to impede the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in its collection of income taxes. Lahr pleaded guilty in December 2008 to conspiracy to impede the IRS. According to information presented in court: Between December 2001 and 2006, Demer performed banking and clerical services for Lahr. Demer, using the alias “Jessica Dalton,” mailed five false and fictitious obligations, captioned “Bond[s] to discharge attachment for debt,” to the IRS in October 2003. These false bonds were submitted as purported payment of Lahr’s tax liabilities, penalties, and interest for the years 1996 through 2000. Lahr had gross income totaling approximately $2,600,000 for tax years 1996 through 2003, but didn’t file federal income tax returns or make any payments to the IRS for those tax years. Lahr and Demer conspired to conceal Lahr’s assets, income, and expenditures through the use of bank accounts and shell “trust” entities, all in nominee names. The evidence at trial also established that Demer used at least 30 different business names and post office boxes in seven different locations, some of which were opened with a fraudulent identification card in the name of her alias, Jessica Dalton. Additionally, Demer served as the trustee for various shell entities set up to conceal Lahr’s ownership of assets, such as real property and automobiles. Evidence also showed that Demer had not filed a federal tax return since at least 2002.