ATLANTA – Local business owner Magdaleno Garcia Alonso has pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe an IRS Revenue Agent to get out of paying his personal and business taxes.
“Garcia attempted to buy his way out of paying his taxes by bribing an IRS Revenue Agent,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “As expected, the agent reported his illegal offer – and now Garcia must answer for his crimes.”
“It is the mission of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to protect the integrity of the IRS and promote the fair administration of our federal tax system,” said Special Agent in Charge Gary Smith of TIGTA’s Southern Field Division. “TIGTA and our law enforcement partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office will do everything within our power to ensure those individuals who attempt to bribe IRS agents and corrupt our nation’s tax system will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court: Garcia owned and operated Acworth Georgia Concrete, Inc. Garcia filed tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for 2015 and 2016, both as an individual and on behalf of his concrete business. Based on those filings, the IRS notified Garcia that it was auditing his tax returns. As a result of the audit, the IRS calculated that Garcia owed approximately $234,000 in back taxes for his business and approximately $111,000 in back taxes personally.
In mid-September 2018, Garcia offered to pay the IRS Revenue Agent who completed the audit of his tax returns a cash bribe if the agent reduced Garcia’s tax liabilities. The Revenue Agent properly reported Garcia’s bribe offer to the appropriate authorities – and federal law enforcement agents set up an undercover operation to record Garcia.
On September 19, 2018, Garcia met the Revenue Agent at a fast-food restaurant in Cobb County, Georgia. During that recorded meeting, Garcia proposed that if the IRS agent reduced his back taxes from $345,000 to $100,000, then he would pay the IRS agent $30,000 in cash. In fact, Garcia hand wrote an agreement setting out the terms of his bribery scheme, writing that he would “pay
Garcia has admitted and agreed that he is a citizen of Mexico, is illegally in the United States, and will consent to being removed from the United States after he completes his prison sentence.
On November 6, 2018, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Garcia, 50, of Acworth, Georgia, for bribery. Garcia pleaded guilty to that charge via criminal information.
This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey W. Davis, Public Integrity and Special Matters section chief, is prosecuting the case. The case was previously prosecuted by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny R. Turner.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.