Brian Davison, a Tampa businessman and former real estate investment firm executive, has been handed a three-year federal prison sentence for filing fraudulent tax returns, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. A federal judge ruled that Davison's actions resulted in a tax loss to the government totaling more than $6 million.
The sentence was announced by U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven following Davison's guilty plea in March 2025; he will now face three years behind bars and must pay restitution of exactly $6,293,592 to the Internal Revenue Service, which represents the sum defrauded from the U.S. government, court documents showed Davison underreported his income between October 2018 and December 2020, not disclosing over $29.7 million earned through Equialt, LLC and other enterprises, this deceitful move ultimately cost the American treasury a substantial amount of money as per the investigation led by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the FBI's Tampa division, the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Duso.
Brian Davison was the co-founder and served as CEO of Tampa-based Equialt, LLC, a real estate investment firm that came under judicial receivership after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lodged a complaint in early 2020. The SEC's involvement began following allegations of financial discrepancies within the firm.
The criminal investigation revealed that Brian Davison’s tax filings understated his income from various business dealings, resulting in unpaid taxes owed to the state. These activities occurred while Equialt, LLC was under scrutiny following the SEC’s complaint. The IRS - Criminal Investigation and the FBI in Tampa uncovered the extent of Davison’s financial misreporting, which led to his sentencing and a restitution order issued by Judge Scriven.
