Paoli Man Evaded Millions In Taxes A Second Time: Feds

PAOLI, PA — A Paoli man convicted in 2016 of wire fraud and tax evasion has sidestepped the nearly $5 million in restitution he's been ordered to pay and is charged anew with tax fraud and could face up to five years in prison if convicted again.

Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Michael Goldner, 51, of Paoli, was charged by Indictment with tax evasion on June 11.

The Indictment alleges that Goldner accrued a tax liability of approximately $1,858,740 for the years 2013 through 2017, and that beginning in 2016 he engaged in a scheme to evade the payment of those taxes.

Goldner’s alleged tax evasion scheme involved having his employer make payments to Goldner's wife for personal expenses, including the mortgage on his family's residence, rent for an apartment where he lived, service for his pool, dance classes for his daughter, and a vacation for his family.

The defendant also had his employer make some payments toward a nearly $5 million restitution judgment that Goldner owed from a 2016 wire fraud and tax evasion conviction in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The Indictment further alleges that Goldner failed to report this additional income on his 2016 and 2017 tax returns.

"Goldner’s alleged scheme to hide his true income victimized honest taxpayers in two ways: first, by evading more than $1.8 million in tax liability to the IRS, and second, by avoiding having to make additional payments towards the large balance (more than $4 million) he still owed in court-ordered restitution from his previous conviction on similar charges," said Williams.

“Clearly this defendant has not learned that you cannot outrun the IRS. Anyone who is contemplating similar fraud should view this case as a warning that it will not succeed,” Williams added.

Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, said, "If you keep breaking the law, the FBI and our partners will keep coming after you."

Discoll added, "Willfully defrauding the government and cheating honest taxpayers isn’t ‘creative accounting.’ It’s a federal crime."

Joleen Simpson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation said, "The American tax system provides government services critical to our people. Every time someone cheats the tax system, the burden of providing vital services increases on taxpayers who pay their fair share."

If convicted, Goldner faces up to five years in prison, a fine up to $250,000 fine, and as much as three years of supervised release, authorities said.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Ignall.

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