An East Hartford man faces five years in prison after pleading guilty to a tax-skimming scheme involving his sideline tax-preparation service and rental properties, federal prosecutors say.
Shaukat G. Dalal, also known as Shaukathusein Dalal, 55, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Bridgeport federal court to one count of tax evasion, the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Internal Revenue Service said.
Dalal also faces a maximum fine of $250,000 when he is sentenced on Feb. 24, 2016. He has agreed to pay the IRS $97,289 in back taxes, penalties and interest, authorities said.
According to investigators and court testimony, Dalal is employed with the state as a fiscal administration assistant. Outside that job, he owned and operated a tax-preparation service, Tax Preparation SVS Inc.
For the 2009 and 2011 tax years, Dalal prepared more than 250 tax returns but failed to deposit all of his revenue receipts from the side business, for which he grossly understated the sums on his federal tax returns, investigators said.
Separately, Dalal and his wife owned 25 rental condominiums in East Hartford on which Dalal performed nearly all the work, including collecting rents – much of it in cash — organizing repairs, and maintaining books and records, authorities said.
However, Dalal underreported both the income and taxes from the properties on his federal returns from 2009 to 2011, investigators said.
Dalal could not be immediately reached Thursday for comment.
