Alabama salesman sentenced to 2 years in prison for $1 million tax evasion
Published 12:22 pm Wednesday, October 28, 2020
An Alabama salesman was sentenced to two years in prison for tax evasion Tuesday.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama announced the sentencing of Ivan Scott “Scott” Butler, a Hoover automobile industry consultant and sold automobile warranties as an independent salesman.
On March 6, Butler pleaded guilty to tax evasion of more than $1 million.
Beginning in 1993, Butler stopped filing tax returns. Starting in 1998, Butler used several Nevada nominee corporations to receive his income and conceal it from the IRS. In or around 1999, Butler moved hundreds of thousands of dollars to bank accounts in Switzerland and hid his assets in offshore insurance policies held in the name of non-U.S. insurance providers, thus disguising his ownership of the funds. Such accounts, which generally are used as investment vehicles, are commonly known as “insurance wrappers.”
In 2014, Butler converted some of his insurance wrappers into precious metals, which were shipped to Butler and another individual. Some of those precious metals were given to friends and family for safekeeping. In total, Butler caused a tax loss to the IRS of $1,093,400.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon ordered Butler to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $1,093,400 in restitution to the United States.