KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced to 36 months in prison for tax fraud and ordered to pay $40 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
In November 2021, Scott Tucker, 59, of Leawood pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false or fraudulent tax return. According to court documents, Tucker owned a professional auto racing business called Level 5 Sports. On a 1040-tax return in 2010, Tucker reported that Level 5 had approximately $18,251,000 in gross receipts and approximately $17,514,000 in expenses. Tucker admitted in a plea agreement Level 5 never operated as an intended for-profit business, and he admitted to submitting false information on the 1040 form to try to disguise the amount of tax due and owing.
A federal judge ordered Tucker’s 36-month prison sentence to be served concurrent with a previous conviction in the Southern District of New York. In 2018, Tucker was sentenced to 200 months in prison for operating a nationwide $3.5 billion internet payday lending enterprise that systematically evaded New York state laws.
“Taxes are due on all earned income, even income earned by ripping people off,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation. “IRS-CI will always pursue the interests of the public. Mr. Tucker spent decades defrauding others through payday lending schemes and now a $40 million tax bill is due. In addition to the time he’s already serving, he’s now being held accountable for cheating the U.S. government and honest taxpayers.”
The IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Rask and Chris Oakley prosecuted the case.
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