PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Samuel Bullock, 72, of Langhorne, PA, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Court Judge Michael M. Baylson for his orchestration of a tax fraud scheme to avoid paying nearly $1.3 million in federal income taxes for his general contracting business, Bullock Construction.
In September 2020, the defendant was charged with multiple tax charges, including one count of aiding and assisting in the filing of a false federal tax return, and one count of willful failure to file a federal tax return, all relating to his efforts to avoid paying taxes for his construction business. In 2009, after the defendant had failed to file federal income tax returns for nearly a decade, the Internal Revenue Service secured liens for more than $1.2 million assessed in taxes, plus more in interest and penalties. The defendant responded by taking steps to avoid collection by arranging to have his business income paid over to a sole proprietorship that he had set up in the name of his spouse, including providing his clients with new Forms W-9 with his spouse’s Social Security number and opening a new business checking account in his spouse’s name and the alleged sole proprietorship. The defendant then reported his own income on the tax return of his spouse, using the filing status “Married filing separately.” Although he was aware that he had earned income and was obliged to file a federal income tax return, Bullock failed to do so.
“Samuel Bullock’s scheme to enrich himself and avoid paying his fair share of income taxes victimized honest American taxpayers and business owners who do pay their tax obligations,” U.S. Attorney Williams said. “By ignoring the IRS and its legitimate demands for information from him, the defendant magnified his own tax liabilities. This type of fraud will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted by this Office.”
The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Abrams.