A Jacksonville sales representative who raked in more than $10 million over a dozen years is headed to federal prison after skipping out on the tax bill. Phillip Mak was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion connected to hiding more than $3.7 million in income from the IRS over a 13-year span. Court filings say that by the end of 2021, despite earning over $10 million between 2008 and 2020, he had paid no federal income taxes.
How prosecutors say he hid the cash
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Mak routed money he earned into a corporate bank account instead of treating it as personal income. Prosecutors say he moved about $1 million to his domestic partner between 2019 and 2021 and signed his home over to a trust controlled by that partner, steps they say were designed to keep assets out of the IRS’s reach. Federal filings state that Mak earned more than $10 million from 2008 through 2020 and evaded over $3.7 million in federal income taxes while the IRS issued multiple notices and filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien on his property.
Investigators' message
IRS Criminal Investigation officials used the case to send a blunt warning. “Tax evasion is not financial strategy. It is a deliberate choice with predictable consequences,” said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Florida Field Office, in language reflected in local coverage of the case. His statement and the description of Mak’s transfers were summarized by the Tampa Free Press, which noted that investigators followed the paper trail through accounts and trusts.
Sentence and restitution
Mak pleaded guilty to a single count of tax evasion and was ordered to pay $3,751,485 in restitution as part of his sentence, along with three years of supervised release, according to Action News Jax. The 22-month prison term followed prosecutors’ review of his financial records and the court filings that documented the years-long pattern of nonpayment.
Who prosecuted the case
The investigation was handled by IRS Criminal Investigation and announced by U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe and Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva, with prosecution by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Cannizzaro and trial attorneys Isaiah Boyd and Michael Jones, according to the Department of Justice press release. The announcement also highlighted the role of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division in pursuing complex financial fraud cases like Mak’s.
Why it matters
Mak’s case is a reminder that federal investigators do not stop at the first bank account when taxes go unpaid. Transfers to partners, corporate accounts and trusts are all fair game once agents start matching records. For business people who may be tempted to “get creative” with their income, the outcome here is a clear warning: long-term tax evasion can end with prison time, a massive restitution order and years of federal supervision.
