A psychiatrist from Oregon, Ohio, pleaded guilty to tax evasion for not paying more than a half-million dollars in taxes, said Carole S. Rendon, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Kathy Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.
Sandra Vonderembse, 65, pleaded guilty to attempting to evade taxation or the payment thereof from 2005 through 2013.
Vonderembse admitted that despite earning compensation in excess of $240,000 per year from 2009 through 2011 as a psychiatrist working for multiple businesses and the State of Ohio, she falsely claimed zero taxable income and zero tax owing for each of those years on federal tax returns. In tax years stretching back to 2005, Vonderembse failed to pay taxes due on her income and filed tax returns falsely claiming taxable income as “None." From 2005 to 2011 she also had her earnings paid to nominee entities to conceal income from the IRS and sent fake financial instruments to the IRS in purported payment of her taxes, according to court documents.
Vonderembse faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. She has agreed to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $565,000.
The defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after reviewing factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, and the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The investigating agency in this case is the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation in Toledo. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Noah P. Hood and Department of Justice Trial Attorneys Jack Morgan and Jeffrey McLellan.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
