Michele Beckwith Acting U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California
Pilar Rose, a 51-year-old former resident of Fresno, California, received a two-year prison sentence for tax evasion and obstructing an IRS audit. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith. Rose is mandated to forfeit over $2.5 million in proceeds from the confiscation of her mansion and BMW.
Court records outline that from 2012 to 2015, Rose created false financial statements for her husband’s orthodontics practice, underreporting its profits significantly. This action resulted in over $870,000 in unpaid federal taxes owed by Rose and her husband.
In early 2016, Rose tampered with an IRS audit by altering checks for personal expenses to appear as deductible business expenses. She supplemented these altered checks with false financial statements, attempting to deceive IRS auditors and evade legitimate tax obligations.
In June 2015, Rose sought a $1.5 million mortgage refinance on their Fresno mansion, located on Van Ness Boulevard. She provided federal tax returns with inflated income figures to secure the loan. However, the discrepancies led to the bank declining the loan.
In July 2015, Rose successfully secured a $1,475,000 mortgage refinance from a second bank by overstating their bank account balances and the income from her husband's orthodontics practice. Authorities eventually seized the residence due to these false representations.
Further developments in September 2017 revealed Rose's purchase of a BMW sedan for approximately $90,000. She misrepresented herself as an attorney with an annual income exceeding $600,000 and used a Social Security number belonging to her husband’s former classmate. This deception facilitated an approval of a $65,000 loan, leading to the subsequent seizure of the vehicle.
The IRS Criminal Investigation led the inquiry into this case, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Barton, Michael Tierney, Alyson Berg, and Kevin Khasigian prosecuting.
