COLUMBUS, Ohio - Scott W. Atway, 44, of Powell, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 12 months and one day in prison, four months of community confinement and eight months of house arrest for filing a false tax return. Atway was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $600,000.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation, announced the sentence handed down yesterday by Chief U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr.
According to the statement of facts in this case, for several years, including 2010 through 2013, Atway owned multiple Verizon Wireless stores in Central Ohio aside from being a self-employed attorney who operated his own law practice. In 2013, he also generated income from a real-estate holding company for his rental properties.
Atway provided incomplete or false documents to his tax-return preparer for these years. He further made false statements to her when asked to justify how he paid for his lifestyle.
During this timeframe, Atway was building and improving upon a luxury home in Powell. He paid more than $800,000 to contractors for additions including an enclosed tennis court, basketball court, in-ground pool, six-car garage and an elevator. These expenses could not have been covered by the amount of taxable income Atway reported to the IRS.
He was also buying high-end cars, including a $99,000 Land Rover, a $50,000 Porsche 911, a $24,000 Lexus IS250, a $71,000 BMW X6 and a nearly $143,000 Audi R8. (The purchase prices of some of the cars were partially offset by trade-ins.) For these cars, he either received no financing or paid off the loans early, and the income he reported to the dealerships was much greater than what he reported on his tax returns.
“Instead of paying the taxes that he owed, Atway bought high-end vehicles and built an extravagant home for himself," U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “Atway stole from all of us-to the tune of over half a million dollars. He deserves the term of incarceration he received."
“The license to run a business is not a license to avoid paying taxes," said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office. “By filing false tax returns, he cheated all Americans, since we all pay our fair share for the government services and protections that we enjoy."
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Peter K. Glenn-Applegate, who is representing the United States in this case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
