Tax Felon Friday

January 19, 2025

Tax Felon Friday began in the summer of 2023. Specifically on July 7, 2023.

The idea popped into my head as I was searching for a blog post topic and wishing I was out enjoying the summer day. Voilà! A new feature was born.

It lived past its summer origin, and as I posted the first tax crime related item on a Friday — this Friday, Jan. 19; the two earlier Friday posts of 2024 were devoted to the new filing season — I decided to collect all the previous Tax Felon Friday posts, and future ones, on a new blog page.

And then, when mid-May 2025 rolled around, Tax Felon Friday again found it’s way into the blogging rotation.

I do post about tax and financial crime on other days, when the impetus for the posts is more timely. And sometimes, there just isn’t a tax crime that I find interesting enough to post on a Friday.

But when a tax crime piece is posted on Fridays, it’ll get the Tax Felon Friday appellation and end up here, as well as in the general tax crimes category.

So, if tax crime is your jam, bookmark this page. Also check out the tax crime posts that appeared on other weekdays by perusing, as I mentioned, the tax crimes category.

Now I’m off to watch some non-tax true crime TV shows!

2026 transition: Since I last focused on tax felons, the ol’ blog moved to a new platform. That happened Sept. 30 and the transition messed up my regular features as that date of going from the now defunct TypePad to Bluehost neared.

That explains that big October/November hole!

I’m still working on getting things back on track. That’s why I’m putting 2026 Tax Felon Friday posts here at the top of this 2025 list. Thanks for your understanding of the temporary merge.

Treasury targeted alleged El Mencho cartel timeshare fraud just days before drug kingpin’s death (Feb. 27, 2026)
DoJ’s ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ $50 million tax case settlement raises enforcement equity questions (Jan. 23, 2026)
IRS-CI’s new initiatives plus time-honored tax crime cases produced a successful FY25 (Dec. 12, 2025)
Holiday ID theft scams can linger into tax season, leading to fake filings for fraudulent refunds (Dec. 5, 2025)
Nigerian national gets 8 years for scheme to defraud elderly (Sept. 26, 2025)
Former Kyiv tax official faces charges in $37.5 million money-laundering case (Sept. 5, 2025)
3 Florida men headed to jail for $15M false tax filing scheme (Aug. 29, 2025)
GOP bill supports AI use in IRS tax enforcement efforts (Aug. 22, 2025)
Seoul real estate investigation reveals U.S. buyers and up to $216 million in tax evasion (Aug. 15, 2025)
No Tax Felon Friday on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, because that day the IRS commissioner who had been in that post for less than two months was fired. Details in Billy Long long gone as IRS commissioner.
Former NASCAR team owner pleads guilty to federal payroll tax charge (Aug. 1, 2025)
Florida man gets 5-year prison term for decades-long tax fraud scheme involving $20 million in foreign assets (July 25, 2025)
‘Bitcoin’ Jesus fighting extradition to face U.S. tax charges (July 18, 2025)
Elderly couple gets prison terms for $20M insurance scheme (July 11, 2025)
No Tax Felon Friday on Friday, July 4, 2025, because it’s Independence Day! So, of course, I posted about tariffs on fireworks.
Miami man gets prison time for $2.3 million COVID unemployment scheme (June 27, 2025)
No Tax Felon Friday on Friday, June 20, 2025, because it’s the arrival of the summer solstice! Instead, I blogged about Ways to stay safe in summer’s heat and help others do so, too.
Social media financial influencer pleads guilty to Ponzi scheme that cost investors more than $11 million (June 13, 2025)
No Tax Felon Friday on Friday, June 6, 2025, because Donald Trump and Elon Musk were feuding. C’mon, admit it. You would rather read about that, like Trump’s decision to dump his Tesla.
Treasury sanctions major crypto cyber scam facilitator (May 30, 2025)
No Tax Felon Friday on Friday, May 23, 2025, because it was the start of the long Memorial Day weekend. This day’s post was on Memorial Day misconceptions and survivors’ tax benefits.
Miami man pleads guilty to conspiracy in $3 million false tax filing scheme (May 16, 2025) ☝️ ☝️ ☝️ It’s back! Tax Felon Friday posts are resuming. 👆 👆 👆
IRS gets John Doe summons for gig economy tax investigation (Dec. 27, 2024)
No Tax Felon Friday on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, because the final post of the 1o-part 2025 tax inflation series (it starts with next year’s tax brackets), the adjustments to the standard optional mileage rates, was finally announced.
IRS launches new tax enforcement campaign; focus includes offshore havens, deferred fees, whistleblower information (Dec. 13, 2024)
IRS-CI chief likens tax law enforcement unit’s recent successes to takedown of Al Capone (Dec. 6, 2024)
No Tax Felon Friday on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, because the day after Thanksgiving was the fifth and final Tax Turkey to Avoid in 2024. Check out all five in this post-Turkey Day tax collection.
Former NJ nursing home magnate pleads guilty to $38 million tax fraud (Nov. 22, 2024)
2 men charged in Trojan horse hack of tax professionals (Nov. 15, 2024)
Tax preparer and his company enjoined from using questionable tax scheme (Nov. 8, 2024)
Some tax penalties increase in 2025 due to inflation (Nov. 2, 2024; bumped to Saturday, Nov. 3, 2024, because of, you got it, the tax inflation post noted below)No Tax Felon Friday on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, because of the continuing 2025 tax inflation series, specifically Part 4 on medical tax breaks.
Georgia accountants get prison time for roles in $1.3 billion conservation easement scheme (Oct. 18, 2024)
No Tax Felon Friday on Fridays, Oct. 4, 2024, or Oct. 11, 2024, because of hurricane tax news.
Bad tax shelter advice (and more) leads to Florida man’s federal indictment (Sept. 27, 2024)
Offer in Compromise tax debt deals are real, but beware aggressive OIC promoters (Sept. 20, 2024)
No Tax Felon Friday on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, because, well, Friday the 13th!
IRS collection from rich nonfilers exceeds $1.3 billion (Sept. 6, 2024)
Crowdfunding tax consequences for organizers and recipients (Aug. 30, 2024)
I’m pretty sure tax crimes were committed on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, but there was no Tax Felon Friday post that day. Instead, there was hurricane tax news.
Florida man pleads guilty to evading $2.4M in federal taxes (Aug. 16, 2024)
Hurricane Debby victims in Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina get tax relief (plus a warning about disaster-related scams) (Aug. 9, 2024)
Lawmakers look to end tax penalties assessed wrongfully imprisoned U.S. taxpayers (Aug. 2, 2024)
Illegal income is taxable income (July 26, 2024)
IRS virtual currency tax compliance enforcement can be improved, says agency watchdog (July 19, 2024)
Senate bill seeks expansion of Congressional whistleblower protections (July 12, 2024)
IRS CI chief discusses his priorities & goals for the division (July 5, 2024)
Personal assistant heading to jail for $2.7 million in embezzlement and tax evasion (June 28, 2024)
HMRC error lets suspected tax schemer avoid £14M penalty (June 21, 2024)
Acclaimed Swedish crime writer gets jail time for tax evasion (June 14, 2024)
Crypto billionaire, D.C. settle tax residency tax dispute for $40 million (June 7, 2024)
GOP presidential candidate found guilty of federal tax fraud (May 31, 2024)
Tax evasion plea could land former Big Law partner in the Big House (May 24, 2024)
I’m pretty sure tax crimes were committed on Friday, May 17, 2024, but there was no Tax Felon Friday post that day. Instead, there was new about the IRS’ fourth and final Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) Saturday opening in 2024.
MLB superstar Ohtani’s former translator agrees to bank and tax fraud guilty plea deal (May 10, 2024)
‘Bitcoin Jesus’ accused of $48 million in tax evasion related to the crypto currency (May 3, 2024)
Maryland woman pleads guilty to collecting but not remitting $2.7 million in employment taxes (April 26, 2024)
FinCEN’s proposed expansion of anti-money laundering rules gains support (April 19, 2024)
Ghost tax preparers, global tax schemes, and wealthy filers wrap up the 2024 IRS Dirty Dozen (April 12, 2024)
Fake business tax credits, bogus charities, and phishing and smishing all make the 2024 IRS Dirty Dozen list (April 5, 2024)
DoJ touts successes in taking down unscrupulous tax preparers (March 29, 2024)
RI man gets 8-year prison term for decade-long Ponzi scheme and tax evasion March 22, 2024)
Guy Ficco will become new IRS CI chief on April 1 (March 15, 2024)
Beware of products touted as tax-favored medical savings plan eligible (March 8, 2024)
Non-filing millionaires are latest IRS targets (March 1, 2024)
FTC alleges H&R Block deleted customer tax data, used deceptive advertising (Feb. 23, 2024)
COVID task force PPP investigation results in 2 more convictions (Feb. 16, 2024)
Texas man charged in apparent first-ever criminal crypto capital gains tax case (Feb. 9, 2024)
Former tax preparer gets 27 months in prison, ordered to repay Treasury $4.7 million (Feb. 2, 2024)
New client, BOI scams proliferating as tax season 2024 begins (Jan. 19, 2024)
IRS welcomes voluntary disclosure of dubious ERC claims (Dec. 22, 2023)
Crypto fraud, international scheming, greedy families: All are in IRS CI’s top 10 tax crime cases of 2023 (Dec. 15, 2023)
IRS investigators identify $37 billion in tax & financial crimes (Dec. 8, 2023)
How to report tax scams and fraud (Dec. 1, 2023)
Tax penalties, some increased in 2024 for inflation, could add to what you owe Uncle Sam (Nov. 24, 2023)
IRS warns of butchers seeking willing pigs (Nov. 17, 2023)
Las Vegas man headed to jail for nearly $2M in tax evasion (Nov. 10, 2023)
GOP anti-IRS efforts aid tax cheats, cost U.S. Treasury (Nov. 3, 2023)
Tax fraud committed by both ghost employees and ghost employers is scary and costly (Oct. 27, 2023)
Two men who gambled on tax evasion schemes lost (Oct. 20, 2023)
Former IRS consultant pleads guilty to stealing and sharing Trump (and others) tax data (Oct. 6, 2023)
Don’t fall for tax text message scams (Sept. 29, 2023)
Florida pass-through company tax evasion scheme ends in owners’ jail time (Sept. 22, 2023)
Artificial grass tax evasion scheme ends in real prison time for company owner (Sept. 15, 2023)
AI will be part of expansive IRS crackdown on wealthy, corporate tax evaders (Sept. 8, 2023)
Lubbock man headed to jail for $4 million in PPP fraud (Sept. 1, 2023)
COVID federal fraud sweep recovers $836 million, produces 371 criminal charges (Aug. 25, 2023)
D.C. restaurateurs plead guilty to 1.35 million in tax evasion, separate COVID relief fund fraud (Aug. 18, 2023)
AI start-up gets $12.5M to upgrade, expand tax evasion tracking technology (Aug. 11, 2023)
Impatient Senators want Treasury/IRS to act now on crypto tax evasion rules (Aug. 4, 2023)
Crypto regulation effort moving in Senate (July 28, 2023)
Be on guard against summer surge of tax schemes (July 21, 2023)
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to stand trial for alleged Spanish tax evasion (July 14, 2023)
NXIVM cult investigator facing tax crime sentencing (July 07, 2023)