BOSTON - A Lynn man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with a “ten-percenting" scheme, in which he purchased millions of dollars’ worth of winning Massachusetts state lottery tickets at a discount in order to help the ticket holders avoid taxes on the winnings.
George Kinslieh, 69, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to one year of probation. On Oct. 10, 2018, Kinslieh pleaded guilty to one count of filing false tax returns.
Co-conspirator Bhavna Patel was sentenced in May 2019 to one year of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $1,000 after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy. Co-conspirator Clarance Jones, 80, pleaded guilty in May 2019 to conspiring to commit tax fraud and filing false tax returns and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 13, 2019.
From at least 2013 through 2017, Kinslieh and Patel, who were convenience store owners purchased winning lottery tickets from the ticket holders for cash, at a discount to the value of the tickets, thereby allowing the ticket holders to avoid reporting the winnings on their tax returns - a scheme known as “ten-percenting." Kinslieh and Patel gave the winning tickets to Jones, who presented them to the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission as his own, and collected the full winnings. Kinslieh did not report to the Internal Revenue Service or pay taxes on the income that he received from the ticket scheme.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today. The Massachusetts State Lottery Commission provided assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
