A San Francisco grand jury handed down an indictment charging San Rafael accountant Michael M. Gilbert with filing false tax returns. Gilbert, who's wielded the financial rulebook as a Certified Public Accountant since 1985, is now facing the music for underreporting income from his firm, M.M. Gilbert & Company Inc., and a separate entity under his control, White Mountain Properties Inc.
The case, spearheaded by the Justice Department's Tax Division and IRS Criminal Investigation, claims Gilbert made it a practice to not only underreport his company's income from 2017 through 2020 but also to convince clients to pay for dubious "tax strategies" and "donations." These payments, channeled to White Mountain, were conveniently omitted from the business tax returns, according to the Office of Public Affairs. Gilbert reportedly went on to transfer over $5 million to his own pockets from White Mountain in 2020 and 2021, a hefty sum that never made its way onto his tax filings.
It's a sticky situation for the long-time accountant who now potentially faces up to three years in the clink for each false tax return charge. He's expected to show face in court for the first time on February 19 in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the Northern District of California.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division was the one to put the indictment on blast. Julia M. Rugg and Patrick Burns stand ready to prosecute the case, ensuring each piece of allegedly fudged paperwork sees its day in federal court.
