Mass. dentist pleads guilty to tax evasion

A Douglas, MA, dentist has pleaded guilty to tax evasion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

George Fenzell, DDS, was indicted in February 2014 by a federal grand jury in Boston on multiple counts of tax evasion and one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He pleaded guilty on Friday and faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for tax evasion. He will be sentenced on February 18.

According to the indictment, from 1999 through 2012, Dr. Fenzell engaged in conduct intended to obstruct the IRS from computing, assessing, and collecting his income taxes. He failed to file timely tax returns with the IRS and tried to conceal income he earned from his dental practice. Dr. Fenzell's dental offices are located in Shrewsbury, MA, and Brookline, NH.

The indictment alleges that Dr. Fenzell used nominee entities, including River Valley Dental and Brookline Dental Associates Trust, to divert and conceal his dental business receipts and assets. He also allegedly used multiple bank accounts in three separate states, including commingled bank accounts maintained by third parties, to conceal his ownership of his income and assets. It is further alleged that Dr. Fenzell used nominee trustees to make it appear as if other individuals owned and controlled his assets and income.

According to the indictment, Dr. Fenzell falsified his 2006 and 2007 tax returns that were filed late in 2009, and made extensive use of cash in order to conceal his fraud from the IRS.

The indictment further alleges that in 2007, in response to a Massachusetts Department of Revenue investigation and collection action, Dr. Fenzell filed his delinquent federal tax returns for 2000 through 2005. In those returns, Dr. Fenzell admitted that he owed federal income taxes for these years in the amount of approximately $129,841, which he failed to pay. Rather than pay these taxes and additional IRS interest and penalties, between 2007 and 2012, Dr. Fenzell allegedly sought to evade IRS collection efforts by making his business receipts payable to nominee entities and used nominee bank accounts in Florida and Rhode Island to divert and hide his income and assets. During the same period, Dr. Fenzell also failed to file his tax returns for 2008 through 2011.