PAKISTANI NATIVE CHARGED WITH TAX FRAUD

Furqan Mian Mehmood, 39, of Boise, Idaho appeared before a federal court judge yesterday and pled not guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns, two counts of failure to file federal tax returns, and four counts of making a false statement to a federal agency.

On August 13, 2008, a federal grand jury in Boise returned an eight-count indictment against Mehmood for the above-mentioned offenses.

According to the indictment, Mehmood is a native of Pakistan who entered the United States as a student in 1988. Mehmood worked as a real estate broker and agent in Boise, and formed two corporations through which he conducted his real estate transactions. In 2005, Mehmood filed federal tax returns for 2002 and 2003 that failed to report the income that he and his corporations received from his real estate transactions.

It is also alleged that Mehmood failed to file tax returns in 2004 and 2005 for entities that he operated to handle real estate transactions. In 2004, Agility Corporation had net income of approximately $232,250 and filed no tax return. In 2005, Help-U-Own Team, Inc., had gross receipts of $558,900 and filed no tax return.

The indictment also states that in 2005, Mehmood was interviewed by the Department of Homeland Security concerning his application for permanent residence status. During the interview Mehmood gave false answers to questions asked by the immigration official. The questions and answers pertained to Mehmood’s marriages, civil judgments, employment, and earnings in 2003.

Mehmood faces a maximum sentence of five years of incarceration for making false statements, three years of incarceration for filing false tax returns, and one year of incarceration for failing to file tax returns.

Trial is set for October 14, 2008, in Boise, Idaho before Chief United States District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.