CHICAGO, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The lead defendant in a $60 million tax fraud conspiracy was sentenced to more than 18 1/2 years in prison, U.S. federal officials said Thursday
Michael A. Vallone of Orland Park, Ill., a founder and executive director of The Aegis Co., and five co-defendants were convicted in May of marketing and selling sham trusts for years to wealthy taxpayer clients throughout the United States, the Justice Department said.
Vallone and the others defendants diverted income from businesses into sham trusts for the clients, hiding hundreds of millions of dollars in income, resulting in a $60 million U.S. tax loss, officials said.
U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle in Chicago sentenced Vallone to serve 223 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He said he would rule later on the government's request that Vallone forfeit more than $4 million, his home and offshore bank accounts.
"Today's sentence sends a powerful and unequivocal message to those who seek to evade and help others evade their taxes, that they will be investigated, prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison for years," said Nathan Hochman, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Tax Division.
