A former Washington D.C.-area attorney, Richard Graham Foote O’Donoghue, is in the hot seat after being indicted on tax evasion and making false statements to federal authorities, as announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Details revealed in the indictment, unsealed just yesterday, suggest that between 2012 and 2015, O’Donoghue dodged taxes on about $1 million of income while working as an independent contractor and later CEO for a defense contractor in Dubai; during his tenure as CEO, he didn't just pull a salary, but also raked in substantial bonuses and enjoyed the perks of a company-paid luxury villa and car service, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
But the financial shenanigans didn't end there; O’Donoghue is accused of feeding false income information to his tax return preparer, leading to significantly underreported earnings and IRS refunds topping $247,000, which the IRS unwittingly disbursed.
And in February 2023 it seems O’Donoghue's tangled web just expanded as he allegedly made false statements concerning his income and other issues to law enforcement and Department of Justice prosecutors, building on a narrative of deceit that could land him five years in prison if convicted on each tax evasion and false statements count and three years for each count of submitting false tax returns, this per the draconian figures offered by the U.S. Department of Justice.
An international cooperative, including IRS Criminal Investigation and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, with aid from counterparts in the UK and the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), is untangling the case.
With Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Gold and members of the Tax Division at the helm, the prosecution prepares for trial, reminding all that an indictment remains only an allegation, leaving O’Donoghue presumed innocent until potentially proven guilty in court.
