Criminal Defense Lawyers

Las Vegas Tax Fraud Lawyers

Last Updated on: 13th December 2025, 01:30 pm

King Isaac Umoren operated Universal Tax Services in Las Vegas. His job was to prepare tax returns for clients. He did that – and also prepared false returns with fictitious deductions. He stole identities from clients. He impersonated an FBI agent. And when he decided to sell the business, he offered buyers something extra: the personal information of approximately 12,000 taxpayers who weren’t even his clients.

Umoren sold Universal Tax Services for $3.8 million, using forged bank statements and fabricated documents to inflate the price. When federal prosecutors caught up with him, he was convicted of filing false tax returns, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, money laundering, and impersonating an FBI agent.

His sentence: 13 years and 3 months in federal prison, plus $9.7 million in restitution. That’s one of the longest sentences ever given to a tax preparer in Nevada.

13 Years For The Tax Preparer Who Impersonated FBI

From 2012 through 2016, Umoren operated Universal Tax Services in Las Vegas. He prepared returns for clients – but those returns included false deductions and fictitious businesses designed to generate larger refunds.

Umoren used the names and IRS preparer tax identification numbers of other UTS employees without there knowledge or consent. He was hiding behind his own employees to avoid detection.

Then it got worse. When Umoren decided to sell Universal Tax Services, he provided potential buyers with forged bank statements, fabricated fee reports, and false tax returns. And as a special bonus for the buyer, he included the stolen tax and personal identifying information of approximately 12,000 taxpayers who werent even UTS clients. He sold stolen identities as if they were business assets.

$98 Million In COVID Credit Fraud

Candies Goode-McCoy operated out of Las Vegas. From June 2022 through September 2023, she filed approximately 1,227 false tax returns with the IRS. Each return claimed refundable COVID-19 employment tax credits – the Employee Retention Credit and paid sick and family leave credits.

The total claims sought more than $98 million in refunds. The IRS actually paid out approximately $33 million before catching on.

The Restaurant That Skimmed $5 Million

Raul Gil owned and operated three Casa Don Juan restaurants in Las Vegas. From 2014 through 2018, he instructed his manager and internal bookkeeper to create false sales numbers. The restaurants underreported cash sales by approximately $5.1 million.

Gil thought he could skim $5.1 million and nobody would notice. He was wrong. IRS investigators have methods for detecting restaurant skimming – analyzing credit card ratios, comparing reported sales to industry benchmarks. When the numbers dont match, investigators start looking closer.

His sentence: 37 months in federal prison. The tax loss to the government was approximately $1.6 million.

The Special Tax Shelter That Wasnt

Michael J. Moore operated X Tax Pros, a tax and accounting business in Las Vegas. From 2015 through April 2025, he promoted something he called the “Special Tax Shelter Strategy.” He promised clients he could prepare tax returns that eliminated there taxes owed to the IRS. Zero tax liability.

Moore ran his scheme for nearly ten years. The tax loss attributed to his activities: more than $3.5 million. His sentencing is scheduled with a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

And the clients who went to X Tax Pros? There returns were prepared using fraudulent methodologies. The IRS can examine every return Moore filed and pursue the clients for unpaid taxes, interest, and penalties.

700 False Returns And Stolen Client Money

Mendoza operated a tax preparation business in Las Vegas under the names “Taxes & More” and “Taxs y Mas.” She used false or inflated deductions and credits on the returns she prepared – then used her clients personal identifying information to falsely obtain larger refunds on her own tax returns.

From 2013 to 2017, Mendoza diverted over $500,000 of her clients tax refund payments into her own accounts. In total, Mendoza prepared more than 700 tax returns that claimed more than $3 million in refunds.

Her sentence: three years in federal prison, plus one year of supervised release.

$130 Million – The Wynn Las Vegas Forfeiture

Wynn Las Vegas agreed to forfeit $130,131,645 to settle criminal allegations. The casino had conspired with unlicensed money transmitting businesses worldwide to transfer funds. This settlement is beleived to be the largest forfeiture by a casino based on admissions of criminal wrongdoing.

The investigation involved IRS Criminal Investigation Las Vegas Financial Crimes Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Three federal agencies working together on a casino money case.

Nevadas Federal-Only Reality

Nevada has no state income tax. For Las Vegas residents, that’s often celebrated. But there’s a hidden consequence: there is no state-level tax fraud prosecution for income tax issues. Everything goes federal.

The District of Nevada covers Las Vegas. The U.S. Attorneys Office maintains prosecutors who specialize in financial crimes. Federal conviction rates exceed 90%. Federal sentences are measured in years, not months.

Defense Strategy In Las Vegas

If your facing tax fraud exposure in Las Vegas, the calculus involves understanding how the District of Nevada operates.

The Umoren case shows what happens when fraud spirals into identity theft and federal impersonation – 13 years. The Goode-McCoy case shows that COVID credit fraud at scale gets prosecuted. The Gil case shows that restaurant skimming dosent work.

The time to address tax fraud exposure is before any of that happens. Voluntary disclosure programs exist. Coming forward before the IRS finds you creates opportunities to resolve issues civily – with penalties and interest, but potentialy without prison.

If theres tax fraud exposure in your situation – returns prepared by someone now under investigation, cash your business didnt report, COVID credits you werent entitled to claim – the time to address it is before anyone starts looking. Appeals go to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The 90% federal conviction rate means most people who get charged get convicted.