Fake Gambling Proceeds and Tax Fraud

Anthony Charles Dwight Box was sentenced to 36 months in prison on Aug. 28, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay almost $1 million in restitution for theft of government money. Box, 57, of Plantation, Florida, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641.

Nebulous Numbers and Creative Accounting

According to court documents, in late 2012, Box filed a federal income tax return for tax year 2011. However, the tax return included a fake Form W-2G that claimed gross gambling winnings of $3.78 million. According to Box, the winnings were from a poker tournament, wherein he also claimed federal tax withholdings of over $1 million. Further, Box’s Form 1040 claimed over $3.5 million in gambling losses. The losses were used to offset Box’s claimed income from gambling winnings. The result was a tax refund for Box of almost $1 million.

Unaware of the fraud, the IRS approved payment of Box’s refund and applied over $250,000 to Box’s 2005 and 2006 tax liabilities and to non-IRS debt. The United States Treasury sent the remainder of the refund to Box via a check for over $735,000. Box endorsed and deposited the check knowing that the refund did not belong to him.

In the end, the IRS determined that Box’s 2011 federal income tax return was in fact fraudulent. The claimed gambling winnings, the withholdings and the losses were all fabricated. As a result of the fraudulent misrepresentations on Box’s tax return, the IRS sustained a loss of almost $1 million.