FORMER OWNERS OF DRACUT EXCAVATION BUSINESS CHARGED WITH TAX EVASION
BOSTON, MA - Two brothers, along with the wife of one of the brothers, were charged today with hiding income from their excavation business as part of a conspiracy to evade hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Susan Dukes, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Division, announced today that PAUL BROWN, 44, RAYMOND BROWN, 44, and DEBORAH BROWN, 38, all of Dracut, MA, were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS and PAUL and RAYMOND BROWN were each charged with one count of tax evasion.
According to the Indictment, between 1999 and 2006, PAUL and RAYMOND BROWN owned and operated J.P. Brown & Sons (“J.P. Brown”), a Dracut-based excavation company. Through the operation of J.P. Brown, the brothers earned almost $2 million in income over four years, neither paid any taxes on that income, and both failed to file personal federal income tax returns. The brothers, with the assistance of DEBORAH BROWN, Raymond Brown’s wife, concealed much of their income by, among other things, placing assets in the names of their wives, taking draws from the company in the form of cash and gold coins, and accepting property in exchange for services rendered by J.P. Brown.
If convicted they each face a maximum of five years in prison, three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge. PAUL and RAYMOND BROWN each also face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years supervised release, and a $100,000 fine on the tax evasion charges.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Walters of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
