Views: 4
The owner of a Missouri business was sentenced in federal court for tax evasion.
Jason Rigoli, 43, of Peculiar, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Rigoli to pay $138,455 in restitution.
On Aug. 2, 2022, Rigoli pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. Rigoli, who has owned and operated Granite Construction Services, LLC, since 2006, admitted that he has not filed a federal personal, business, or employment tax return for eight years, from 2013 to 2020. Rigoli also failed to pay state income taxes, state employment taxes, workers’ compensation taxes, and unemployment taxes.
As part of his scheme, Rigoli used his business bank accounts for all his personal expenses. Rigoli used the proceeds of his tax fraud to pay for travel, restaurant meals, and liquor.
Rigoli falsely told IRS agents that he always paid his employees by check. Rigoli also falsely told IRS agents that he paid his employees “by 1099,” when in fact, Rigoli often paid employees with cash and filed no Forms W-2 or Forms 1099 for his employees.
According to court documents, special agents with IRS-Criminal Investigation executed a search warrant at Granite Construction Services. Agents recovered false returns, which were not filed with the IRS, and were labeled with notes such as, “Fake/High,” “2015 Completed F Taxes,” and “Real 2014.”
Rigoli told the agents an accountant that has an office in the same building would soon be preparing and filing all his personal and business tax returns at one time. He said if they had shown up just a month later, he would have had all his taxes filed. He said he was supposed to meet with the accountant that Friday regarding his tax returns. Agents later interviewed the accountant and she contradicted almost everything Rigoli said. The accountant said Rigoli was not a client, that she wasn’t preparing his returns, and that he had no scheduled appointment with her.
According to court documents, Rigoli applied for two Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) from the Small Business Administration for the same business but under two different names. He received a $150,000 loan for Granite Construction Services on Aug. 4, 2020. He applied for a second EIDL loan on Aug. 5, 2020, under the business name Patriot Construction Management, a shell company. For this second, fraudulent, loan, Rigoli used his parents’ address as the business address and the same employees as he used for his first EIDL loan. This loan was not granted by the Small Business Administration.
Rigoli kept very few books and records related to his business. To calculate taxes owing, the IRS reconstructed the business’s books using bank records and documents recovered from the business. Because Rigoli often used cash, because he comingled his accounts, and because the IRS gave him the benefit of the doubt on business expenses and depreciation, the tax loss is relatively low – $110,819 total from 2016-2019. When federal employment taxes are added, the total federal tax loss is $121,007. The Missouri state tax loss of $17,448 brings the total tax loss to $138,455.
In July 2022, Rigoli filed for tax years 2017 and 2018, so they were several years late. Rigoli reported taxes due and owing for those years. From 2014 to the date of sentencing, Rigoli paid just $139 in federal or state income or employment taxes.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen D. Mahoney. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
