Birmingham Man Sentenced For Tax Evasion

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A Birmingham man will serve 12 months in prison after being pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion in February and being sentenced this week, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama announced on Monday.

In a news release, Escalona said the man, John P. Cooney, admitted in 2011 that he owed to $780,000 to the IRS for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 tax years. The amount went unpaid.

Cooney then created a nominee corporation, GVA Advisors, and had payments sent through the corporation rather than directly to him, concealing the payments from the IRS and evading payments, Escalona said.

IRS investigators found that between the years of 2013 and 2016, Cooney deposited over $435,000 into the GVA account, leading to a total of over $1.3 million in outstanding balances, penalties and interest to the IRS.

In addition to serving a year behind bars, Cooney must repay $1,311,904.70 in restitution to the IRS, according to the release.

“Today’s sentence should send a clear message that those who execute schemes to evade payment of federal income tax will be prosecuted and could face prison time,” Escalona said in a statement.

The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation division and prosecuted by trial attorneys Kathryn Sparks and Alexander Effendi of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Crosby.

“Mr. Cooney knowingly and willfully committed a series of affirmative acts, constituting attempts to evade the payment of his income taxes, and designed to conceal his income from the IRS,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey. “The sentence issued today is the penalty for those actions. Taxpayers looking to willfully evade the payment of taxes should know that they will be prosecuted for those actions.”