Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Monday, March 20, 2023
More Guilty Pleas in Sovereignty-Related Tax Fraud Scheme
By News Release @ 6:21 PM :: 2484 Views :: Law Enforcement, Taxes

Editor’s Note:  The Chocks were plaintiffs alongside Rose Dradi, a Keanu Sai-Dexter Kiama collaborator, in a now-dismissed Sept 7, 2018 lawsuit claiming the IRS had no legal authority to collect taxes from them.  

Background: Another Hawaii Couple Indicted in Sovereignty-Related Tax Fraud Scheme

Ewa Beach Couple Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud

A Hawaii couple has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by obtaining a fraudulent tax refund and then thwarting IRS efforts to recoup it.

News Release from USDoJ, March 20, 2023

According to court documents, Michael and Brigida Chock of Ewa Beach conspired with a third individual to prepare a false 2014 amended individual income tax return (Form 1040X) and a false miscellaneous income form (Form 1099-MISC) purportedly issued by a mortgage lender to Michael Chock. The tax return falsely reported an inflated tax withholding amount based on the fraudulent Form 1099-MISC, resulting in a refund of $225,327.  The defendants knowingly filed these false forms with the IRS in March 2016.

The Chocks took several steps to obstruct IRS efforts to recover the fraudulently obtained refund, including depositing the refund check into a bank account in the name of a trust they created to conceal the refund and by paying the coconspirator $73,500 for assistance in obtaining and concealing the refund. They also falsely claimed to the IRS that they had prepared the false tax return themselves. 

Each faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors for the District of Hawaii made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), and the FBI are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Sarah Kiewlicz and Meredith Havekost of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Paris Yates of the District of Hawaii are prosecuting the case.

---30---  

Ewa Beach couple pleads guilty in federal tax probe case

SA: … An Ewa Beach couple pleaded guilty Friday after they were charged in connection with a 2021 federal investigation Opens in a new tab into allegations of tax fraud that ensnared at least a dozen local residents Opens in a new tab, according to a plea agreement….

In September 2021 a federal grand jury returned a 45-count superseding indictment charging Rosemarie Lastimado-Dradi, owner and president of the now defunct Gimmel Group, and five others with conspiracy to defraud the government. Lastimado-Dradi was also charged with aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return.

In June 2021 another Ewa Beach couple, Beverly Braumuller-Hawver and Scott F. Hawver, were indicted for conspiring to defraud the government by filing a false tax return. Braumuller-­Hawver also was charged with four counts of money laundering….

At least three tax fraud indictments in 2021 name the co-conspirator as the owner of the Gimmel Group LLC, a domestic limited-liability company in Hawaii that “purported to be a personal investment business,” according to court documents.

A 15-count indictment handed down July 15 and unsealed Sept. 9 accused Hannah Kim Heart and Sook Young Jung of managing $1.6 million in illegal proceeds.

The Gimmel Group was incorporated April 29, 2015, and administratively terminated by the state on Dec. 7, 2018, according to the Business Registration Division of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Heart and Jung allegedly conspired with the Gimmel Group’s owner and a signatory of Mortgage Compliance Advisors &Solutions LLC, a Florida company, by recruiting at least five other people to file false tax returns to obtain refunds they did not deserve….

BREG: Gimmel Group LLC

read … Ewa Beach couple pleads guilty in federal tax probe case

 

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT