BOSTON - A Vineyard Haven CPA was sentenced on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, for filing false tax returns in which he underreported more than $800,000 in income for three years.
Roger A. Armstrong, 61, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to three years of probation, the first nine months of which are to be served in home confinement, and ordered to pay a fine of $3,000. At the sentencing hearing, Armstrong paid restitution of $389,365, which included his taxes owed, as well as interest and penalties. In January 2015, Armstrong pleaded guilty to three counts of filing false tax returns.
Armstrong, a certified public accountant (CPA) and tax preparer who lived and worked on Martha's Vineyard, owned rental property in Massachusetts and Florida. As a sole proprietor, Armstrong was required to accurately report his gross receipts and his business profit or loss on his individual income tax returns and also was to report any rental income he received. For tax years 2009 through 2011, Armstrong filed tax returns in which he significantly underreported both his business gross receipts and his rental income. Specifically, he did not report a total of $790,000 in gross receipts and $47,000 in rental income, and, as a result of the underreporting, did not pay $200,000 in taxes.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra S. Bower of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
