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Press Release

Arkansas Businessman Pleads Guilty to Income Tax Evasion

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Owed more than $1.3 million to the IRS

A Bentonville, Arkansas, resident pleaded guilty today to income tax evasion announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

According to court-filed documents, James Brassart filed a 2006 individual income tax return reporting adjusted gross income of $1,502,749 and total tax due of $486,438. He did not pay all of the tax due and was assessed penalties and interest. In an effort to continue receiving income but to make it appear as if he did not have income or assets, Brassart used three nominee corporations, Eagle Creek Construction and Development Inc., Mono Pro LLC, and Sierra Madre Contracting LLC, to conduct his business and purchase assets. Between approximately 2010 and 2016, in an effort to further evade paying money owed on his taxes, Brassart filed four false bankruptcy petitions. Each of these petitions listed the IRS as a creditor. During the course of his bankruptcies, Brassart made false statements and filed fraudulent documents in which he concealed his ownership interests in the nominee corporations. As a result of Brassart’s actions, he caused a tax loss of approximately $1,360,682 to the IRS.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy L. Brooks set sentencing for a later date. At sentencing, Brassart faces a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment on the charge.  He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman thanked special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Robert Kemins and Terri-Lei O’Malley, who are prosecuting the case. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas (Fayetteville Division) for their substantial assistance.

Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.

Updated October 14, 2020

Topics
Financial Fraud
Tax
Press Release Number: 20-1097