SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Springfield, Mo., man who was a fugitive from justice in Mexico for nearly seven years pleaded guilty in federal court today to tax evasion.
Scott Christopher Lucas, also known as Scott C. Bogan, 57, formerly of Springfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to the charge contained in a Dec. 17, 2008, federal indictment. Lucas was arrested in Colorado in April 2015 and remains in federal custody without bond.
Lucas was employed by Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc. (doing business as Fairfield Resorts) as a time-share salesman in Branson, Mo., from 2002 to 2005. During those four years, according to today’s plea agreement, Lucas earned a gross income of $811,367 in wages and a total taxable income of $719,505, for a total tax due and owing of $142,418.
According to court documents, Lucas fled to Mexico when he learned of the federal grand jury investigation. The United States obtained a “Red Notice" - an international wanted persons alert - by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). For several years, efforts to locate Lucas within Mexico or obtain the active assistance of the Mexican authorities remained unsuccessful. A U.S. Marshal’s Service task force officer traced Lucas’s whereabouts to Playa del Carman, Mexico, in February 2015.
On April 29, 2015, Lucas was arrested at the Denver International Airport, in Denver, Colo., when he returned to the United States to seek medical treatment. Because of Lucas’s health concerns, his appearance in federal court was delayed.
By pleading guilty today, Lucas admitted that he failed to file income tax returns from 2002 through 2005. Throughout his employment with Wyndham, Lucas used the name Scott Christopher Lucas, when his legal surname, and the surname he used in his dealings with the IRS, was Bogan. To avoid having income taxes withheld from his pay, Lucas filed IRS forms in which he claimed exemption from the withholding of income taxes.
Lucas also admitted that he titled a 1998 Hummer H-1 vehicle, purchased in 2003, in another person’s name, in an attempt to conceal his ownership of the vehicle from the IRS. Lucas also left the title and registration to a houseboat he purchased in February 2006 in the name of the previous owner, instead of registering the houseboat in his own name as required by law, in an attempt to conceal his ownership of the houseboat from the IRS.
Lucas used a false Social Security number throughout the application and loan documents in connection with his purchase of a $275,000 Springfield residence in February 2004. This represented an attempt by Lucas to conceal his ownership of the residence from the IRS.
In pleading guilty to Count One of the indictment, charging him with income tax evasion for the 2002 tax year, Lucas admitted that he received a total income of approximately $244,974 in 2002, of which approximately $233,274 was taxable income. Lucas also admitted that he owed an income tax of approximately $65,701.
Lucas will be required to pay $125,241 in restitution for the total remaining balance of unpaid taxes, plus interest, from 2002 through 2005. Lucas also will be required to pay $41,368 in restitution to the state of Missouri for state taxes evaded.
Under federal statutes, Lucas is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
