WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A nationwide operation led by the U.S. Department of Justice has exposed more than $490 million worth of tax fraud.
The Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division), along with the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Wednesday announced the results of a nationwide series of enforcement actions targeting tax fraud.
Between early September and October 14, the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Tax Section and U.S. Attorneys' Offices across the country participated in the Department's first-ever National Tax Enforcement Surge. It resulted in initiating prosecution against 76 persons whose alleged and proven crimes amount to an estimated loss of revenue to the federal government of more than $490 million.
'What we uncovered during this concentrated surge is only the tip of the iceberg. The Department of Justice is committed to expanding our investigations and exposing schemes designed to evade accountability, because there is no safe haven for fraudsters,' Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
The Justice Department's prosecutors returned 23 actions with new charges against 31 defendants. The estimated intended loss to the government arising from the allegations exceeds approximately $350 million. In addition to returning these new charges, the Fraud Division's Tax Section and the U.S. Attorneys' Offices partook in 39 other enforcement actions - trials, guilty pleas, and sentencing. These events affected another 45 defendants whose actions produced an estimated intended loss of nearly $140 million.
The biggest tax fraud that fell in the Justice Department's net was committed by Martin Navarrete, owner of the construction company, Navarrete Brothers Construction Inc.
From September 2020 through December 2025, Navarrete failed to truthfully account for and pay over the trust-fund taxes owed to the IRS on behalf of the NBC employees. Navarrete, who served as sole owner and corporate officer of the Maryland company, failed to pay $2,800,000 in withheld payroll taxes, according to te DOJ. He also did not file U.S. Corporate Income Tax Return and Individual Tax Return forms for calendar years 2020-2024.
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