A Florida Certified Public Accountant (CPA) was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for evading the payment of more than $2.2 million in income taxes.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Ronald St. Clair attempted to hide his assets from the IRS after accumulating tax debts for 2011 through 2017. In 2020, after the IRS notified St. Clair that it intended to levy his assets to collect his unpaid taxes, St. Clair sold real property he owned and transferred the proceeds into a bank account in a third party’s name. After transferring these funds out of his own name, St. Clair directed the money for his personal and business use and intentionally failed to disclose these funds and assets while he was seeking a payment plan with the IRS.
At sentencing, the government presented evidence that St. Clair spent years concealing income and assets by hiding his money in bank accounts held in the names of others and hiding his interests in real estate by placing properties in the names of businesses not held in his name. St. Clair layered business entities as to conceal his control of funds that he chose not to direct toward taxes he owed.
St. Clair pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. In addition to the prison sentence, St. Clair was ordered to pay $2,343,615.01 in restitution.
Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Assistant Deputy Chief Marissa R. Brodney of the Fraud Division’s Tax Section, Trial Attorney Aaron I. Henricks of the Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jesus M. Casas of the Middle District of Florida prosecuted the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.