LawFuel.com – Santa Ana, California – This morning in United States District Court, the former director of finance for Winpak Lane’s California office made his initial appearance to answer charges that he subscribed to false tax returns for the years 2004 and 2005. The charges are detailed in a criminal information filed by prosecutors last month.
Carroll Aguillard appeared at his post-indictment arraignment this morning to answer to the tax charges pending against him. The charges stem from Aguillard’s embezzlement of money and his failure to report authorized bonuses he received from his employer, Winpak Lane, over a period of several years to the Internal Revenue Service.
In a plea agreement filed in this case, Aguillard has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of subscribing to false tax returns. Aguillard admitted that he knowingly failed to report on his income tax returns more than $547,000 in proceeds he received from his embezzlement scheme as well as money he was paid as bonuses for the years 2003, 2004, and 2005. Aguillard is expected to enter his guilty plea to the charges later this year.
As the director of finance for Winpak Lane, Aguillard was responsible for overseeing payroll and had the authority to transfer money into and out of Winpak Lane’s bank accounts. Using this authority, Aguillard embezzled the money by adding additional unauthorized funds to his normal salary payment, making unauthorized wire transfers to his personal bank account. Additionally, Aguillard falsified the amount of tax withheld on his W-2 forms that were later filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
When sentenced for his crimes, Aguillard faces a statutory maximum six years in federal prison and fines totaling $200,000. Aguillard was released on $5,000 bond. His case was assigned to United States District Judge David O. Carter for all further proceedings.
The investigation of Aguillard was conducted by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles field office in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office in Santa Ana.
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