Omaha Tax Fraud Lawyers

Omaha Tax Fraud Lawyers

Jeffrey Stenstrom worked in property management at Darland Properties in Omaha. The company’s clients trusted him with their property investments. He embezzled over $5.1 million from them. Then he failed to pay taxes on the money he stole. The theft created income. The income created tax liability. The tax liability he didn’t pay created federal charges. His sentence: 78 months in federal prison for money laundering conspiracy, with a concurrent 30-month sentence for tax evasion. The court ordered $5,146,816 in restitution to the defrauded property owners and $1,954,505 to the IRS. The man who stole from clients then stole from the IRS – and ended up owing over $7 million while serving six and a half years in federal prison.

The District of Nebraska has seen tax fraud at scales that destroyed careers and businesses across the state. A man who created false tax documents to obtain COVID relief loans. Two attorneys who both received prison sentences for tax crimes. A company controller who failed to pay $879,000 in employment taxes. When federal prosecutors in Omaha bring tax charges, the defendants often held positions of trust – and their sentences reflect the depth of that betrayal.

The Embezzler Who Didnt Pay Taxes On What He Stole

Jeffrey Stenstrom was 42 years old when he was sentenced in July 2023. His fraud started at Darland Properties, where he worked managing property investments for clients. The clients trusted him with their money. He took over $5.1 million of it.

Heres the thing about embezzlement and taxes. The money you steal is income. The IRS dosent care that you obtained it illegally – they want their share. When Stenstrom embezzled $5.1 million from Darland Properties clients, he created $5.1 million in taxable income that he failed to report. The theft was one crime. The tax evasion was another.

On May 30, 2018, the IRS assessed $1,725,532.91 related to unpaid income tax owed by Stenstrom. Thats $1.7 million in tax debt on money he had already stolen and spent. The assessment created a liability that followed him through the criminal prosecution and will follow him for the rest of his life.

The conspiracy to commit money laundering charge reflected the mechanics of how Stenstrom moved the stolen funds. The money didnt just disappear from client accounts – it was laundered through various channels to hide its origin. The property management position that should have protected client investments instead became the vehicle for systematic theft.

U.S. District Judge sentenced Stenstrom to:

• 78 months imprisonment for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering
• 30 months imprisonment for Income Tax Evasion (concurrent)
• $5,146,816.51 in restitution to the victim property owners
• $1,954,505.10 in restitution to the IRS

Six and a half years in federal prison. Total restitution exceeding $7 million.

For anyone in Omaha who embezzled money and didnt report it as income, the Stenstrom case illustrates the compounding exposure. The theft generates criminal charges. The unreported income generates tax charges. The money laundering generates additional charges. Each crime adds exposure. Each exposure adds potential prison time. The $5.1 million Stenstrom thought he was stealing became $7 million in restitution plus 78 months in federal prison.

Seventy Months For False Tax Documents

Ramel D. Thompson was 60 years old when he was sentenced in April 2024. His crime wasnt traditional tax fraud – it was creating false tax documents to support COVID relief loan applications. The documents looked official. They were never filed with the IRS. They existed solely to make fraudulent loan applications appear legitimate.

Heres the hidden connection between COVID fraud and tax fraud. The Paycheck Protection Program required businesses to demonstrate they had employees and payroll. That meant tax documents – quarterly returns, W-2s, wage reports. Thompson created and assisted in creating these documents from nothing. The businesses either didnt exist or didnt have the employees claimed. The tax documents that should have reflected reality were fabricated to support fraud.

Thompson also assisted others in preparing and submitting false applications for forgiveness of PPP loans. The loans that were supposed to be forgiven based on legitimate payroll expenditures were forgiven based on fabricated documentation. The program designed to save American businesses during the pandemic became a tool for systematic theft.

The scale was substantial. Thompson was ordered to pay $2,518,556.75 in restitution – over $2.5 million. The false documents he created supported applications that extracted millions from COVID relief programs. The expertise that could have helped legitimate businesses instead manufactured fraud at industrial scale.

U.S. District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Thompson to 70 months imprisonment – nearly six years. Almost six years in federal prison for creating false tax documents that were never actualy filed as tax returns. The documents existence was solely for fraud. The prison sentence reflects the scale of theft those documents enabled.

For anyone in Omaha who submitted PPP or EIDL applications with false supporting documentation, the Thompson case demonstrates the exposure. The applications are being reviewed. The supporting documents are being verified. The tax returns claimed on loan applications can be checked against IRS records. The fraud that seemed invisible during the pandemic rush is being traced systematicaly.

Tamika R. Cross of Omaha faced similar charges for her role in PPP fraud. She prepared fraudulent documents including false tax documents for loan applications, submitting fraudulent applications totaling $3,399,769. U.S. District Chief Judge Rossiter sentenced Cross to 42 months imprisonment and ordered $552,287.26 in restitution. Three and a half years for preparing false documents that supported fraudulent loan applications. The pandemic relief programs designed to help struggling businesses became targets for people who manufactured fake businesses on paper. The tax documents that were supposed to demonstrate legitimate payroll history were completly fabricated.

Two Attorneys Two Prison Sentences

Thomas Campbell was an Omaha attorney who owned TLN Law, a solo-practice law firm. Between 2014 and 2018, his firm received over $2.8 million in cash. He didnt report any of it. The attorney whose job was helping clients navigate legal requirements couldnt navigate his own tax obligations honestly.

Heres the paradox of attorney tax fraud. Lawyers understand the law better then almost anyone. They know what must be reported. They know the consequences of noncompliance. When an attorney evades taxes, the willfulness is harder to deny. Campbell knew exactly what he was doing when he failed to report $2.8 million in cash receipts.

U.S. District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Campbell to one year and one day in prison and ordered $407,665 in restitution. The sentence exceeding one year means federal prison rather then county jail. The attorney who built a law practice while hiding $2.8 million from the IRS will serve time in federal custody.

Craig Hoffman was a Lincoln attorney who owned his own law office from April 2011 until September 2017. He was the owner, operator, and sole employee. For five years, he failed to pay over $240,000 in payroll taxes. The lawyer who was his own only employee didnt pay the employment taxes he owed on his own wages.

Think about that structure. Hoffman was paying himself from his law practice. The payroll taxes – Social Security, Medicare, federal withholding – should have been paid to the IRS. Instead, he kept the money. The attorney whose professional obligation included understanding tax law violated that law systematicaly for five years.

U.S. District Court sentenced Hoffman to two years in prison and ordered $325,198 in restitution. Two years for the Lincoln attorney who didnt pay his own payroll taxes. Two attorneys in the same federal district – both sentenced to prison for tax crimes. The professional credentials that should have ensured compliance instead became evidence of willfulness.

For attorneys in Nebraska considering tax fraud, the Campbell and Hoffman cases establish the precedent. Professional credentials dont provide immunity – they provide evidence of intent. The lawyer who knows the law and violates it anyway has demonstrated willfulness that makes prosecution more likely and sentences more certain. Both attorneys went to prison. Both owe hundreds of thousands in restitution.

The Controller Who Lost Control

Rolley D. Bennett Jr. was the controller at Diesel Power Equipment Company in Omaha. His job title said it all – he controlled the company’s finances. During 2013 and 2014, he failed to pay approximately $879,000 in payroll trust fund taxes to the IRS.

Heres the irony embedded in Bennett’s title. The controller is supposed to control financial operations. The controller ensures bills get paid, taxes get filed, obligations get met. Bennett controlled the finances well enough to know exactly how much he was failing to pay. He controlled the process of not paying for two years.

The payroll taxes he withheld from employees were trust fund taxes – money held in trust on behalf of employees for there Social Security and Medicare contributions. When Bennett kept those withholdings instead of paying them to the IRS, he wasnt just evading corporate taxes. He was stealing from employees who thought there retirement and healthcare contributions were being made.

U.S. District Judge Robert F. Rossiter Jr. sentenced Bennett to 12 months and one day in prison. The court ordered $31,576.19 in restitution to the IRS. One year and a day – just enough to make it federal prison. The controller whose job was managing company finances managed to accumulate $879,000 in unpaid employment taxes over two years.

For business controllers and CFOs in Omaha facing cash flow pressure, the Bennett case is a warning. Employment taxes are not optional. Keeping them is theft – from employees and from the government. The financial pressure that makes the theft tempting dosent excuse it. Federal prosecutors treat employment tax fraud as seriously as any other theft in trust.

Employment Taxes Are Trust Fund Taxes

Employment taxes work diferently then most people understand. When employers withhold Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes from employee paychecks, that money belongs to the government. The employer holds it in trust. Failing to pay it over is theft.

Heres the system revelation that makes employment tax fraud so serious. The employees whose taxes were withheld beleive the money reached the IRS:

• There paychecks showed deductions
• There W-2s showed withholdings
• But if the employer kept the money, those withholdings never reached there Social Security accounts
• The employees may discover years later that contributions werent being made – affecting there retirement benefits and Medicare eligibility

The Bennett case at Diesel Power Equipment illustrates this perfectly. Employees worked and had taxes withheld. Bennett, as controller, was supposed to remit those withholdings to the IRS. He didnt. For two years, employees thought there Social Security credits were accumulating. They werent. The controller who was supposed to manage finances managed to steal from his own coworkers.

This is why employment tax fraud generates prison sentences even when the amounts seem smaller then massive embezzlement schemes. The betrayal runs deeper. The victims include employees who trusted there employer to handle there tax obligations correctly. The fraud affects retirement security for people who had no idea anything was wrong.

For business owners in Omaha withholding employment taxes and not paying them over, the exposure is substantial:

• The IRS treats trust fund taxes as a priority enforcement area
• The responsible persons – owners, officers, controllers – can be held personaly liable
• The corporate structure that might protect against other debts dosent protect against employment tax obligations
• The taxes you withheld but didnt pay will follow you personaly

Chet Lee West of Omaha learned this lesson through a jury trial. A federal jury found him guilty of three counts of tax evasion for tax years 2007, 2008, and 2009. Chief Judge Laurie Smith Camp sentenced West to 51 months in prison – over four years. The court ordered $439,515.81 in restitution. West took his case to trial and lost. The jury saw the evidence of deliberate evasion and convicted him on every count. The trial that was supposed to provide a defense instead resulted in conviction and a sentence exceeding four years. Going to trial and losing typicaly results in longer sentences then guilty pleas becuase defendants dont recieve credit for acceptance of responsibility.

Nebraskas Dual Prosecution Reality

Nebraska has a state income tax ranging from 2.46% to 6.84%. Unlike Texas with no state income tax, Nebraska has BOTH state AND federal tax fraud enforcement. The Nebraska Department of Revenue investigates state tax crimes. Federal prosecutors in the District of Nebraska handle IRS cases.

Heres what that means practicaly:

• A single fraud scheme can trigger investigation by Nebraska tax authorities AND the IRS simultaneosly
• Cases can be prosecuted at the state level, the federal level, or both
• The same conduct that violates federal tax law may also violate Nebraska tax law
• Dual exposure that dosent exist in no-income-tax states

State and federal agencies coordinate there investigations. The Stenstrom case involved both the IRS and FBI. The Thompson case involved multiple federal agencies investigating COVID fraud. Information flows between agencies. A state audit can trigger federal prosecution. A federal investigation can generate state charges.

For taxpayers who committed fraud affecting both Nebraska and federal taxes, the exposure is compounded. State penalties can be imposed in addition to federal penalties – not instead of them. The dual system that dosent exist in Texas or Florida creates doubled exposure in Nebraska.

The District of Nebraska has shown it will prosecute professionals aggressivly. Two attorneys sentenced to prison. A company controller sentenced for employment tax fraud. The professional credentials that defendants might think provide protection instead provide evidence of willfulness when they commit fraud.

Defense Strategy In Omaha

If your facing tax fraud exposure in Omaha, the calculus involves understanding how the District of Nebraska operates.

The cases establish clear patterns:

• Stenstrom case: Embezzlement creates tax exposure on stolen money – the theft is one crime, the unreported income is another
• Thompson case: False tax documents created for loan fraud generate serious prison time even when the documents were never filed as actual returns
• Campbell and Hoffman cases: Attorneys receive prison sentences for tax fraud
• Bennett case: Employment tax fraud by controllers generates prison time

Heres what these cases have in common. By the time defendants faced prosecution, there options had narrowed dramaticaly. The investigations were complete. The evidence was gathered. The schemes were documented. The 90% federal conviction rate means fighting the charges rarely succeeds. The only questions were conviction and sentencing.

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. And in Nebraska, addressing issues proactivly can prevent state prosecution from developing alongside federal exposure.

If an investigation has already begun, damage control becomes the priority:

• Understanding what investigators know
• Protecting against self-incrimination
• Navigating toward the least damaging outcome possible in a district where professionals receive prison sentences and employment tax fraud is prosecuted aggressivly

Why Omaha Specificaly Creates Exposure

Omaha’s business environment creates particular tax fraud exposure:

• The property management industry where embezzlers like Stenstrom can access client funds
• The professional services sector where attorneys like Campbell and Hoffman can hide cash income or fail to pay employment taxes
• The business community where controllers like Bennett can divert payroll taxes without immediate detection

The Stenstrom case reveals how embezzlement schemes create tax exposure on top of theft charges – the money you steal is taxable income you must report. The Thompson case shows how COVID relief fraud required false tax documents that created federal charges. The attorney cases demonstrate that professional credentials provide no protection when prosecutors prove willfulness.

And Nebraskas state income tax creates exposure that dosent exist in no-income-tax states. The Nebraska Department of Revenue pursues violations of state tax law. Federal prosecutors handle IRS cases. Both systems are active. Both coordinate regularely.

If theres tax fraud exposure in your situation – embezzled funds you didnt report, employment taxes you didnt remit, income you didnt disclose – the time to address it is before investigators start looking. Not after the investigation begins.

Heres the thing about prosecution in Omaha. The District of Nebraska has shown through the Stenstrom case, the Thompson case, the attorney cases, and dozens of others that it pursues tax fraud aggressivly. The sentences can be extraordinary – 78 months for Stenstrom, 70 months for Thompson. The 90% federal conviction rate means most people charged get convicted. Your exposure persists untill you address it. The dual prosecution system Nebraska creates means the question isnt just wheather you face federal charges – its wheather you face state charges too. That doubled exposure changes everything about your defense strategy.