Leslie Jean McIntosh Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 05, 2012 |
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on January 4, 2012, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, LESLIE JEAN McINTOSH, a 58-year-old resident of Columbia Falls, pled guilty to two counts of attempt to evade or defeat tax. Sentencing has been set for April 20, 2012. She is currently released on special conditions.
In an offer of proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica T. Fehr, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
McINTOSH was an accountant by training and profession. She was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from October 7, 1991, through December 31, 2006. In December 2006, McINTOSH’s CPA license was revoked following her conviction on a prior federal felony.
In January 2006, McINTOSH was hired by FITEC, LLC, in Kalispell to act as its chief financial officer (CFO). FITEC was a professional collection agency, specializing in commercial collections and accounts receivable. FITEC also provided risk review and credit granting assistance, credit and adverse reporting, and asset and adverse searching assistance. McINTOSH’s duties as CFO included handling all remittances of client services accounts, accounts payable and receivable, all tax preparations and all employee payroll, to include paychecks, withholdings, benefits, Social Security benefits, and Worker’s Compensation issues and insurance. McINTOSH also had access to accounts associated with related companies, FITEC, Inc., and Lazare, Inc.
McINTOSH was paid a salary of $45,000 initially for her duties at FITEC, LLC. After a short period of time McINTOSH’s salary was increased to $60,000 per year. One of McINTOSH’s duties as CFO at FITEC, LLC, was to prepare employee W-2’s, including her own. McINTOSH had access to all of the financial materials for FITEC, LLC, and its related companies while preparing her W-2’s and the W-2’s of the other FITEC, LLC, employees. McINTOSH filed her personal tax returns for calendar years 2006, 2007 and 2008 with the IRS. McINTOSH only declared the amount noted as salary on her W-2’s for FITEC, LLC on her federal tax returns for calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008.
In the spring of 2008, the owners of FITEC, LLC, discovered some irregularities in the company’s financial records. Once the irregularities were discovered, the company ordered an audit of their finances. The audit found that in calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008, an additional $131,511.14 was deposited from FITEC, LLC, and its related companies, into McINTOSH’s personal account and the account of another individual. All of the noted money was over and above McINTOSH’s documented salary with FITEC, LLC. The other account holder told law enforcement McINTOSH told him the checks had to be deposited in his account to conceal the money from the IRS. The CEO’s of the companies would testify that none of the additional income received and deposited by McINTOSH from January 2006 until March of 2008, were authorized, business related expenditures.
McINTOSH did not include any of the $131,511.14 of deposits on her income tax returns for the given calendar years. Based on the audit, an interview with the victims, and an IRS review, it was determined that McINTOSH wilfully under reported her taxable income in calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008. The government has concluded that McINTOSH under reported her taxable income in 2006 by $71,924.34; in 2007 by $55,378.88; and in 2008 by $4,207.92. The additional tax due and owing for each calendar year is as follows: in tax year 2006 tax owing is $16,560.00; in tax year 2007 tax owing is $11,870.00; in tax year 2008 tax owing is $419.00. A total of $28,849.00 is due and owing to the IRS, in addition to an estimated $6,710.59 in interest.
McINTOSH faces possible penalties of five years in prison, a $100,000 fine and three years’ supervised release on each count.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service.