While some may have seen Howard Awand's plea deal as a swing-and-a-miss for U.S. attorneys, the tax man was there all along batting cleanup. (Sorry, it's baseball season)Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson sentenced Awand to four years in prison, and his wife Linda to three years, for willful failure to pay roughly $2.5 million in back taxes.
From the LV Sun:
Howard Awand, 65, of Vevay, Ind., and Linda Awand, 61, of Stowe, Vt., owned Nevada Medical Consultants. The company was taxed as a partnership and the couple was responsible for reporting their share of Nevada Medical's income on their joint personal tax returns.
They reported taxable income of $8.1 million from 2001 through 2004 and owed $2.6 million in taxes. But they paid only $30,000 and only after they discovered they were under investigation by the IRS.
Howard Awand also testified at trial that he falsely told people that he served in Vietnam and in the CIA in order to drum up business for the medical consulting company.
Ah, the ole' fake Vietnam vet story to drum up business for the medical consulting business you're not paying taxes on. Very sneaky, Mr. Awand. We're sure your new cellmate will love to hear all of your stories.
(LV Sun)
