United States Attorney Anne M. Tompkins Western District Of North Carolina
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Isaac H. Birch today to 21 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for filing a false tax return, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Birch was also ordered to pay $480,047 as restitution to the United States Treasury.
Thomas J. Holloman III, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) and Thomas L. Noyes, Inspector in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service join U.S. Attorney Tompkins in making today’s announcement.
According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, Birch, 38, of Franklin, N.C. filed false tax returns for tax years 2007-2009, claiming he was entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax refunds. Court records indicate that Birch filed a false 2007 income tax return that contained fraudulent information, including other income in the amount of $735,425 and federal income tax withheld in the amount of $735,424. According to information in court documents and court proceedings, Birch filed these fraudulent returns after attending a tax return preparation seminar in Albany, N.Y., which taught participants how to file large refund claims against the Treasury Department using fraudulent methods. Court records show that Birch’s fraudulent action caused the Treasury Department to issue fraudulent tax refund checks in the amount of $480,047. Birch pleaded guilty in August 2013 to one count of filing a false tax return.
Birch was released on bond and will be ordered to self-report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
The investigation of the case was handled by IRS and USPIS. The prosecution of the case is handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Gast of U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
