The Empire News Service put out a bulletin this morning on Frank Lobacz, a Bayport man who is charged with federal tax evasion. According to the brief, Lobacz told the Internal Revenue Service that his annual income was $353,893. But, in reality, his annual income was $3.1 million, meaning he defrauded the feds out of $1.3 million in taxes.
Lobacz surrendered to the authorities at the Federal Courthouse in Islip and pleaded “not guilty” to the charges. Judge Hurley then let Lobacz go to wait at home for his day in court.
However, the judge also ordered him to surrender the shotgun he uses for hunting.
But with all of the money Lobacz might owe, how does Judge Hurley expect him to eat?
From the brief:
Over the three tax years, Lobacz reported $353,893 in taxable income and $99,255 tax due, yet his actual taxable income was $3,095,919 and his actual tax due was $1,285,742, resulting in an evasion of $1,186,487 in federal income taxes. He surrendered to authorities at the Federal Courthouse in Central Islip and arraigned before Judge Hurley.
He pled “not guilty” and was released on his on recognizance. He was also ordered to surrender his shotgun which he used for hunting, and handgun that was kept at his business.
Lobacz faces up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the three counts of tax evasion.
Assistant United States Attorney Allen Bode of the Eastern District of New York is in charge of this prosecution.
Tax fraud is serious business. The IRS typically selects high profile individuals for prosecution. I routinely tell my clients that the people whom the IRS most likes to prosecute are doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians, successful businessmen, and celebrities. This is because the IRS doesn’t have the resources to prosecute all of the non-filers and cheaters in the system. Therefore they need to make the biggest splash that they can given the resources allotted to them for enforcement. Don’t take this as endorsement of their activities, it’s just the way it is.