Minnesota Doctor Sentenced To Prison For Huge Tax Evasion Case
St Paul (KROC AM News) - A Texas doctor who practiced in Minnesota has admitted being a tax cheater and is now facing a huge restitution order.
And time behind bars.
Sentenced Thursday in US District Court in St Paul was 69-year-old Dr. Mark B Reimer. He ran his own medical practice in Texas from 2003 to 2007 and then began working as a physician for a private employer in Minnesota.
The US Attorney’s Office says Reimer had an annual salary of $440,000 from 2003 through 2012. Reimer and his wife Ana filed joint tax returns admitting that he had earned more than $4.3 million during that 10-year period and that he owed more than $1.2 million in federal income taxes. Reimer also owed a $20,000 personal penalty because he had failed to pay employment taxes arising out of his Texas medical practice between 2005 and 2007.
Prosecutors say “despite having the ability to pay them in full, Mark and Ana Reimer willfully evaded the payment of their tax liabilities."
According to court documents, the Reimers withdrew more than $337,000 in cash from bank accounts they controlled for the express purpose of preventing the IRS from collecting it. Instead of paying their tax liabilities, they transferred more than $353,000 to their four adult children and spent more than $251,000 on airline tickets, furniture, and other retail purchases. Prosecutors say in 2013 and 2015, they filed for bankruptcy "for the sole purpose of evading the IRS."
During the bankruptcy proceedings, the Reimers falsely testified under oath that they had made no monetary transfers or gifts to their children prior to filing for bankruptcy.
Reimer was sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. Ana Reimer was sentenced to 24 months of probation. The two were also ordered to pay nearly $860,000.