July 6, 11

NEWS / Miami Contractor Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Employment Tax Fraud

MIAMI – Reynaldo Orozco was sentenced to 18 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan for filing a false employment tax return, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. Orozco was also ordered to pay $504,047 in restitution to the United States.



Orozco previously pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false employment tax return on March 22, 2011. According to court documents, during 2004 through 2007, Orozco owned and operated Rock Construction Builders Inc. (RCB), a construction business located in Miami-Dade County. Orozco admitted that he issued RCB corporate checks to various other corporations holding them out to be legitimate subcontractors. In truth, these corporations did not perform work for RCB. Orozco cashed the checks at local check cashing stores and used the bulk of the cash obtained in this manner to pay RCB employees. Orozco failed to report the cash wages on quarterly employment tax returns and failed to withhold and pay over employment taxes on the wages.



From 2004 through 2007, RCB failed to report approximately $3,294,426 in cash wages to the IRS. Based on the conduct described above, the United States Treasury suffered an employment tax loss of approximately $504,047.



Wilfredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John A. DiCicco, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, commended the IRS Special Agents who investigated this case and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Matthew J. Mueller and Gregory E. Tortella, who prosecuted the case.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/July/11-tax-883.html

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