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Former CPAs from Tampa Bay Area Indicted for Fraud
August 22, 2010
by K. McKinney
The U.S. Attorney in Tampa announced the indictment of two Tampa Bay area accountants for conspiracy to defraud the IRS and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. George B. Calvert of Hernando Beach and Gregory Guido of Litha, former Certified Public Accountants, were also indicted for money laundering.
Prosecutors alleged that, from 2002 through 2006, Calvert and Guido conspired with others to defraud the IRS through a complicated fraudulent tax credits scheme related to a tax credit for selling fuels from non-conventional sources (FNS) to certain parties. According to authorities, Calvert, Guido and their co-conspirators identified landfills in the United States and Puerto Rico and purported to secure rights to the FNS tax credits generated by the landfills. They then created fraudulent assignments purporting to transfer the right to claim the FNS tax credits from the landfill owners to their own companies.
The government alleges that the defendants created fraudulent and back-dated landfill gas purchase agreements to make it appear as if their own company was selling methane from the landfills to an unrelated third party such that they could claim FNS tax credits. In reality, no such sales were occurring.
Calvert and Guido also allegedly recruited a network of tax return preparers who promoted the FNS tax credit scheme to their clients. The individual taxpayers were then advised to claim FNS tax credits on their tax returns and provided false documentation in support.
The IRS then refunded the taxpayers money based on the claimed credits, and the taxpayers in turn gave a cut of their refunds to Calvert, Guido and their co-conspirators.
If convicted on all counts, Calvert and Guido each face a maximum penalty of 95 years in federal prison and may be ordered to pay restitution to the IRS. The federal government is also pursuing forfeiture of six properties which they allege are traceable to the alleged money laundering and fraud as well as civil judgments for the alleged criminal profits.