Las Vegas business owner gets prison term for tax evasion
A Las Vegas home health care owner must serve a year and a day behind bars and pay a fine of more than $1 million for unpaid employment taxes, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Jurors convicted Maria Larkin, 55, who owned Five Star Home Health Care Inc., of tax evasion in June. Prosecutors said in a news release that Larkin evaded more than $1.6 million in taxes by concealing her own assets and income and failing to pay the IRS employment taxes between 2004 and 2009.
The IRS assessed trust fund recovery penalties against Larkin, which resulted in her personal liability, according to the Department of Justice.
“She lied to the IRS regarding her ability to pay, changed the name of her business, placed her business in the name of someone else, had her employees cash checks for her, and bought a home in the name of someone else,” the release stated.
U.S. District Judge James Mahan ordered Larkin to surrender to prison in April and required her to pay about $1.2 million in restitution to the IRS.
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