PORTLAND, Ore. - A jury in federal court in Portland convicted Miles Julison, 40, of two counts of filing false claims against the United States. The defendant, a resident of Clackamas and a former real estate investor, was found guilty on August 9th, 2013, after he filed tax returns for the years 2007 and 2008 falsely claiming total refunds due in the amount of more than $1.9 million, despite having paid no federal income taxes in those years. Sentencing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 20, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon.
“Both collecting revenue to fund the essential functions of the federal government and promptly refunding overpayments by individual taxpayers depends on all taxpayers’ good-faith compliance with the tax laws," said U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall. “The administration of the Internal Revenue Code rests on the proposition that every taxpayer will pay the taxes he or she owes, without having to be audited by the IRS. This office and the IRS will continue to ensure that those taxpayers who do not do so will face the consequences established by law."
After a five-day trial and three hours of deliberations, the jury found Miles Julison guilty of filing two false claims for income tax refunds to which he was not entitled. The evidence at trial established that, in July 2008, Julison falsely claimed on his tax return that he had earned more than half a million dollars in 2007 and that almost all of it had been withheld for taxes. He then fraudulently claimed he was due a tax refund of $411,773.00. The IRS issued him a check for that amount two weeks later. In January 2009, Julison falsely claimed on his tax return that he had earned more than $2.3 million in 2008, and that all but $815 of that total had been withheld for taxes. He fraudulently claimed a tax refund of more than $1.5 million. By then, however, Julison was already under criminal investigation, and the refund was never issued.
The evidence at trial established that Julison used the refund he obtained to purchase, among other things, a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz sedan, to pay off his mortgage, and to make payments on a 23-foot ski boat, a Toyota Sequoia SUV, two Kawasaki wave runners, and two Polaris snowmobiles. The trial featured testimony from two other criminal defendants who had collaborated with Julison in filing similar claims for fraudulent refunds. Those men were expected to plead guilty to charges of filing false claims against the United States in cases pending elsewhere.
This case was investigated by IRS, Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth D. Uram and Ryan W. Bounds prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
