A Colorado business owner pleaded guilty to filing a false personal tax return with the IRS, the Department of Justice reported.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Manuel Rocha of Aurora, Colorado, owned and operated Rocha’s Drain and Rocha’s Liquor in Denver, Colorado, and diverted income to additional bank accounts to conceal earnings.
From 2015 through 2022, Rocha provided records and information to his tax preparers that omitted the diverted income, and in 2021 reported $57,907 in gross receipts while the businesses actually earned approximately $691,650.
The difference in reported and actual income for that year was more than $600,000, according to court filings.
In total, Rocha caused a tax loss to the United States of approximately $2.2 million.
Rocha is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 25 and faces a maximum of three years in prison, with a federal district court judge to determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced the plea, and IRS Criminal Investigation is conducting the investigation, with Trial Attorneys David F. Scollan and Megan E. Wessel prosecuting the case.