A Bonifay doctor plead guilty this week to filing fraudulent tax returns.
Ahmad T. Ismail, 70, of Bonifay, Florida, pled guilty on Wednesday to the subscription and transmission of multiple fraudulent federal income tax returns.
“At his guilty plea, Ismail admitted in federal court that he filed false federal income returns for the years 2017 and 2018.
Ismail agreed that he knowingly understated his gross income by thousands of dollars per year by failing to report all the cash payments he received from patients at his medical practice over the course of the two years in question,” federal prosecutors wrote in a news release.
“During the execution of a federal search warrant on his residence in 2020, law enforcement located $39,000 in cash in Ismail’s residence along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash receipts from his practice.”
The Internal Revenue Service estimates the overall tax loss perpetrated by Ismail to be more than $100,000, they added.
“We owe it to every American taxpayer to use all lawful means to identify and prosecute those
who evade their taxes,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Brian Payne. “By his own admission, Ismail cheated the U.S. government out of tens of thousands of dollars, and there are consequences for individuals who intentionally conceal income and evade taxes which can include serving time in federal prison and paying back all of the taxes owed with costly penalties and interest.”
Ismail’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 20, 2022, at 9:00 am, at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before the Honorable United States District T.K. Wetherell. Ismail faces up to 6 years imprisonment for the tax crimes as well as the payment of restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
