Durango – The United States Attorney for the District of Colorado announced that Kenneth and Susan Fusco of Durango, Colorado, pleaded guilty on October 13, 2022 to federal income tax evasion.
According to the plea agreement, the defendants jointly operated a restaurant in downtown Durango, Colorado. For tax years 2014 through 2019, the defendants intentionally denied business expenses to reduce their tax liability. Specifically, the defendants classified personal expenses as “customer supplies” on their accounting software, which were then passed on to tax professionals for submission to the Internal Revenue Service. The couple also signed a statement stating that the information they provided to their tax professional was “complete and accurate to the best of our knowledge,” when in fact they knew the defendants had not provided accurate information and had unreported business income totaling $933,586. This resulted in a tax loss of $160,536 to the government.
The Fuscos face 12 to 41 months in prison, $160,536 in restitution and $5,500 to $55,000 in fines plus interest and penalties. A sentencing hearing is set for February 6, 2023.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nikki Cassidy and Jeffrey Graves handled the prosecution.
Case Number: 22-cr-00311-REB-JMC
