Awand Gets Four Years ... For Tax Evasion?

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.

The tax case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Myhre and Kathryn Newman. Awand still faces sentencing for his role in the Medical Mafia debacle on June 25.

(LV Sun)

Easy Come, Easy Go

Las Vegas attorney Mark Lobello (no, not that LoBello) was sentenced yesterday to serve 15 months in federal prison for tax evasion. From the Sun:

Between the years 1997 and 2001, Lobello earned more than $600,000 in income, but did not file federal income tax returns nor pay any federal income taxes for the those years, even though he owed the IRS more than $140,000 ...

Wait, there's more:

Lobello also attempted to conceal his income from the IRS by dealing in cash; mixing business funds with personal funds; using multiple taxpayer identification numbers; holding assets in the names of nominees; filing frivolous motions to quash IRS requests for his records; and demanding that clients withdraw IRS paperwork indicating he had earned taxable income ...

Don't worry, Mark, we hear the tax system is much easier in prison. Just make sure you bring lots of cigarettes.

(LV Sun)