A former city treasurer has pleaded guilty to naturalization fraud and failure to file taxes.
Christian Dunbar, 42, of Philadelphia, Pa., pleaded guilty Oct. 13 before U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia Rufe, a news release said.
“Christian Dunbar’s conduct in this case demonstrates a shocking level of misconduct for anyone, let alone a senior official with the city of Philadelphia whose job it was to oversee the city’s fiscal stability,” U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said in the release. “Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate these types of complicated public corruption cases, and hold public officials accountable.”
Dunbar was charged with “procurement of citizenship unlawfully and through multiple false statements; submitting false citizenship papers; and failure to file tax returns, all in connection with false statements and altered documents he submitted as part of his application to become a U.S. citizen, and failing to file his federal tax returns in three separate years,” the release said.
Dunbar built his life and career “on a foundation of lies,” Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, said in the release.
“It’s a sad irony that such a dishonest person wound up city treasurer, a key position of public trust,” Maguire said, according to the release. “Corruption like this corrodes people’s faith in government, which is why the FBI works so hard to hold crooked public officials accountable.”
In failing to file tax returns as required by law, Dunbar “violated federal tax laws,” IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Yury Kruty said in the release.
“Tax crimes like this will not go undetected thanks to the tireless hard work of IRS-CI Special Agents,” Kruty said, according to the release. “We will continue to focus our investigative efforts on individuals who choose to ignore their legal duty to accurately file and pay their taxes.”
