NEEDHAM LAWYER SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR TAX FRAUD
BOSTON, Mass. - A Needham attorney was sentenced today in federal court for tax evasion.
MARTIN J. AHLIJANIAN, 48, of Needham, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William G. Young to a combined six months of imprisonment and community confinement, to be followed by six months of home detention. The community confinement and home detention are part of a two year term of supervised release imposed by the Court, together with a $15,000 fine. AHLIJANIAN was also ordered to pay $132,216 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). AHLIJANIAN pleaded guilty to tax evasion on September 30, 2010.
At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that had the case proceeded to trial the Government’s evidence would have proven that in his tax returns for years 2004 through 2008 AHLIJANIAN claimed a substantial tax deduction by falsely representing that his alimony payments to his former wife were undifferentiated support payments (i.e. combined child and spousal support). When the IRS began to investigate AHLIJANIAN’s claimed alimony deductions, AHLIJANIAN tried to obstruct the investigation by providing the IRS with forged copies of the divorce court decree that established his support obligations.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul G. Levenson of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
