Houston Tax Fraud Lawyers

Houston Tax Fraud Lawyers: When Overseas Workers Alter Documents to Frame Employers

Peter Joseph Tignini earned $4,750,000 working overseas in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar from 2013 to 2018. He reported approximately $100,000 each year on his tax returns – conveniently near the Foreign Earned Income exclusion threshold. When IRS agents interviewed him, he didn’t cooperate. He used an internet application to alter his employment contract and payroll documents, making it appear his employer was responsible for the tax failures. He gave the falsified documents to the Justice Department. Then, when investigators asked a witness about the application he used, Tignini tried to delete the evidence. His sentence: 41 months in federal prison. The overseas worker who tried to game the foreign income exclusion and then frame his employer will spend more than three years thinking about why that didn’t work.

The Southern District of Texas has seen this pattern repeatedly. Workers who earn substantial income overseas and underreport it. Tax preparers who manufacture false credits for years. Conspiracy networks that cash stolen tax checks. When federal prosecutors in Houston bring tax charges, they’re often dealing with defendants who thought distance or complexity would protect them. It doesn’t.

The Overseas Worker Who Altered Documents

From 2013 to 2018, Peter Tignini worked in the UAE and Qatar. He deposited his substantial earnings – nearly $4.8 million over five years – into foreign bank accounts. His tax returns told a different story. Each year, he reported income of approximately $100,000.

The Foreign Earned Income exclusion allows Americans working overseas to exclude a portion of their income from U.S. taxation. By reporting income near but below the exclusion, Tignini created the appearance that he had little or no tax obligation. The reality was he owed over a million dollars.

Then he gave those falsified documents to the Justice Departments Tax Division and the IRS through his attorneys. When investigators started asking questions about the internet application he used to create the forgeries, Tignini tried to delete the documents from his account. The cover-up wasnt just unsuccessful – it became additional evidence of his guilt.

U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks sentenced Tignini to 41 months in federal prison plus $1,169,348 in restitution to the United States.

$4.5 Million In Stolen Tax Checks

Whitley Rachelle Carter of Houston was part of a conspiracy to cash stolen tax refund checks. The conspiracy stole nearly $4 million from the IRS.

Carter was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Her co-conspirator Thomas recieved 90 months – seven and a half years. Hunjan recieved 42 months. The conspiracy required multiple people working together, and everyone involved faced prosecution.

Osazuwa Peter Okunoghae of Houston was sentenced to 78 months – six and a half years – for money laundering conspiracy related to tax fraud. The entire network went to prison together.

The Family Tax Fraud Business

Maria Lourdes Campos owned Campos Tax Service in the Rio Grande Valley for over ten years. With her sisters Elizabeth Romo and Gloria Romo, she operated what prosecutors described as a systematic fraud scheme.

Ten years. A family business built on fraud. Three sisters working together to file false returns. All three sisters pleaded guilty. Maria Campos got 42 months. Elizabeth Romo recieved 36 months. Gloria Romo recieved one year of supervised release.

Heres what makes family fraud operations particularly troubling. The family bonds that should prevent criminality instead facilitated it. When the scheme collapsed, the family legacy became criminal records for everyone involved.

Employment Tax Fraud In Houston

Joseth “Joe” Limon pleaded guilty to employment tax fraud. U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal sentenced him to 36 months in federal prison.

Employment tax fraud – failing to remit taxes withheld from employee paychecks – is treated as theft by the IRS. The employees are victims. There Social Security credits may be affected. The employer who was supposed to handle there withholdings kept the money instead.

Texass Federal-Only Reality

Texas has no state income tax. For Houston residents, thats often celebrated. But heres the hidden consequence: there is no state-level tax fraud prosecution for income tax issues. Everything goes federal.

The Southern District of Texas is one of the largest and most active federal districts in the country. IRS Criminal Investigation operates a Houston Field Office. Federal conviction rates exceed 90%. Federal sentences for tax fraud are measured in years, not months.

The Southern Districts Approach To Major Fraud

The Southern District of Texas has demonstrated through case after case that it will pursue tax fraud aggressivly. Peter Tignini – 41 months for overseas income evasion and obstruction. Thomas – 90 months for the stolen check conspiracy. Maria Campos – 42 months for running a family fraud business.

By the time charges get filed, investigations have been running for months or years. The 90% federal conviction rate means most people who get charged get convicted.

Defense Strategy In Houston

If your facing tax fraud exposure in Houston, the calculus involves understanding how the Southern District operates.

The Tignini case shows what happens when you obstruct investigations – the cover-up extends your sentence. The Carter/Thomas case shows that conspiracy networks get prosecuted together. The Campos case shows that family fraud businesses eventualy collapse.

The time to address tax fraud exposure is before any of that happens. Voluntary disclosure programs exist. For overseas income like Tigninis, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures exist specifically to address unreported foreign income.

If theres tax fraud exposure in your situation – overseas income you havent reported, returns prepared by someone now under investigation, employment taxes your business didnt remit – the time to address it is before anyone starts looking. Appeals go to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Your exposure persists untill you address it.