Attorney Sentenced to 22 Months in Prison for Criminal Tax Fraud
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 17, 2009 |
PHILADELPHIA—Wayne D. Bozeman, 61, of West Chester, PA, was sentenced today to 22 months in prison for conspiring with convicted Norristown lawyer, Bernard Jay Bagdis, to commit a tax evasion scheme in which Bozeman hid over $800,000 in income from the Internal Revenue Service.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Curtis J. Joyner ordered Bozeman to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $137,635, pay a fine of $2,000, and spend three years on supervised release.
On March 13, 2009, Wayne D. Bozeman, a businessperson and lawyer residing in West Chester, PA, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with Bernard J. Bagdis to defraud the United States. Bozeman owned and operated Keystone Game Supply, Inc., which was in the business of purchasing and reselling components for amusement and gaming machines, and served as the president of that corporation. Bozeman and Bagdis agreed that Bozeman would not report his earnings from Keystone Game Supply to the IRS or pay any federal taxes on that compensation. Bagdis helped Bozeman receive the unreported income in the form of checks deposited by Keystone Game Supply into a nominee bank account held in the name of another company, which Bozeman owned and controlled, called Advanced Game Concepts, Inc. That company ceased operations in 2000. The checks deposited into the nominee bank account were deducted as consulting fee expenses on the internal books and records and the corporate income tax returns of Keystone Game Supply. Bozeman used the unreported compensation to pay his and his wife's personal expenses, including payments to their investment fund, credit card companies, pool cleaning service, lawn care service, utility companies, and their home mortgage company. Bozeman received over $830,000 in taxable income that he did not report during the years 1999 through 2007. Bozeman filed false individual and/or corporate tax returns for those years that were prepared by or with the assistance of Bagdis. The result is an approximate tax due and owing of over $137,000.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David J. Ignall, Stephen A. Miller, and John Pease, and Trial Attorney Sean O'Connell of the U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division.