Real Estate Appraiser Ordered To Pay $75,297.94 For Attempted Tax Evasion

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Peter Kellner, age 77, of Sunrise, Florida, was sentenced yesterday to two years of probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $75,297.94, following his conviction for attempted tax evasion, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s New York Field Office.

Kellner was sentenced in Albany by U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino. He pleaded guilty on November 3, 2014.

Kellner, a licensed real estate appraiser formerly of Philmont, New York, incurred a personal tax liability that had grown to approximately $86,179.94 by October 2008. In an effort to reduce his owed tax, Kellner submitted a false Offer of Compromise to the Internal Revenue Service, falsely reporting assets totaling $8,612. However, at that time, Kellner had assets totaling $79,263 in the form of 81 United States Postal Money Orders that he did not disclose to the IRS. On the basis of the false information Kellner provided, the IRS approved his Offer of Compromise on May 26, 2009, allowing him to resolve his tax debt for only $8,612. After his tax debt was resolved, Kellner negotiated approximately $78,540 in Postal Money Orders between May 26, 2009 and October 2010, and the IRS thereafter discovered that Kellner had attempted to evade the payment of his taxes.

This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation’s New York Field Office and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ransom P. Reynolds.