An Orange County man is facing charges for allegedly committing tax evasion by treating his gambling losses as business write-offs. Edward Michael Greer of Newport Beach has been indicted on four counts of tax evasion, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California. The indictment, issued by a federal grand jury, accuses Greer of using his insurance salvage company's accounts for personal expenses under the guise of business operations.
Running from 2017 through 2020, the indictment made by the Department of Justice alleges that Greer used Greer & Kirby Co. Inc.'s bank accounts to cover a swath of personal expenses, including sports gambling debts to bookmakers Wayne Joseph Nix and Ken Arsenian, and the purchase of a 2021 Mercedes-Benz. Mistakenly directed as business costs, these personal payments were concealed within the company's records.
Nix and Arsenian have previously admitted guilt in the operation of an illegal sports gambling enterprise and await sentencing in the months ahead. Greer's indictment reminds the public that these are still just allegations. The presumption of innocence stands until proven guilt in the judicial arena. Should convictions ensue, Greer could face up to twenty years in federal prison, taking the statutory maximum of five years for each count into account, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California.
The IRS Criminal Investigation unit is behind the probe into Greer's financial activities, with Assistant United States Attorney Jeff Mitchell of the Major Frauds Section and Trial Attorneys Julia Rugg and Mahana Weidler from the Justice Department's Tax Division leading the prosecution.
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