2 dentists sentenced in separate tax evasion cases

A dentist in Connecticut and a dentist in Missouri were sentenced to prison on March 6 in U.S. court for participating in separate incidents of tax evasion, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Boulos “Paul” Hanna, 66, of East Lyme, CT, was sentenced to 10 months of prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $244,541 in restitution and a $25,000 fine. He pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 2023 and must report to prison on May 6, according to a press release dated March 6 from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Connecticut.

Nohaud Naseef Azan, 66, of Sedalia, MO, was sentenced to one year and one day in U.S. prison without parole and ordered to pay $269,517 in restitution. Azan pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to interfere with the administration of internal revenue laws in 2022, according to a press release dated March 6 from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri.

Hanna

Hanna owned Paul Hanna DMD PC, a dental practice in New London, CT, as well as the building where it was located. The practice paid rent to Hanna individually, according to the release.

For the 2010 through 2012 tax years, Hanna filed a Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for himself and his wife. However, he reportedly did not pay the tax due and owing. As a result, Hanna was subject to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collections enforcement, including forced collections, for the 2010 through 2012 tax years, according to the release.

From 2013 through 2020, Hanna earned approximately $1.6 million in taxable income from his work and from rental income. He purportedly failed to file tax returns for any of those years, resulting in a loss to the IRS of $244,541. 

In addition to failing to file personal federal income tax returns, Hanna allegedly attempted to evade the assessment of tax. He was accused of paying himself management fees instead of a reasonable wage, operating in cash and self-endorsing business checks to himself and cashing these checks to keep money out of his personal bank accounts, and paying personal expenses directly from his business accounts without reflecting those payments as income, according to the release.

Azan

In 2011, the IRS audited Azan and the practice he operated in Sedalia, MO, in connection with improper deduction of personal expenses on his corporate tax returns during the prior three years. In response to the audit, Azan reportedly admitted that he cashed patients’ checks written out to the dental practice or deposited them into a personal bank account, according to the release.

Between 2011 and 2018, the IRS identified more than 1,000 checks Azan cashed or deposited. Azan purportedly admitted that he cashed the checks for personal expenses, including to fund his gambling habit. From 2013 to 2018, Azan reportedly cashed $617,472 in patients’ checks, which he diverted for gambling and other personal expenses. The total loss to the IRS was $269,517, according to the release.