A California man was sentenced to 15 months in prison for evading over $1 million in taxes owed to the IRS and California Franchise Tax Board.
According to court records, Haim Jerry Kohen ran a business that bought and sold large amounts of used clothing. From 2005 to 2017, Kohen avoided paying taxes by filing false income tax returns, both individual and corporate, to federal and state authorities, reporting less income than he actually earned.
Records state that Kohen tried to hide his income from the IRS by taking money from his business for himself and using cash. Kohen collected cash payments from a key customer and kept them instead of depositing them in his business bank account. He did not report this cash on his corporate or personal tax returns. Authorities stated Kohen kept doing this even after learning about the IRS criminal investigation against him.
In November 2013, a customer reportedly owed Kohen over $648,000. They signed a promissory note stating the customer would repay Kohen directly, not his business. Kohen received cash payments but didn’t report them on his tax returns. He also lent money to others without reporting the interest he received on his personal returns.
Kohen did not report rental income from two properties in Beverly Hills and Tarzana, California. He bought the Beverly Hills property in 2011 and later transferred it to family members but still collected the rental income and maintained control over it. He also failed to report the rental income from the Tarzana property.
Kohen caused the IRS and the State of California a tax loss of $1,471,323. In addition to prison time, U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr. sentenced Kohen to one year of supervised release, a fine of $95,000, and repayment of $1,471,323.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada made the announcement. The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation’s International Tax and Financial Crimes group and prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Mark F. Daly, Trial Attorneys Sara E. Henderson and John C. Gerardi, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Ranee Katzenstein.
