PHOENIX — An Arizona man has recently pleaded guilty to preparing false tax returns after he was accused of helping to shelter $60 million in income from the Internal Revenue Service.
Kent Ellsworth pleaded guilty last week to two counts of assisting in the preparation of false tax returns for individuals who used an "abusive-trust tax shelter" to hide their income, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: El IRS perdió $17 millones debido a las declaraciones falsas de un hombre de Arizona
Ellsworth is suspected of filing over 500 false tax returns for dozens of clients. The scheme reportedly involved assigning a client's income to a sham trust or "private family foundation," which were essentially used as bank accounts for the income, the DOJ said.
The scheme resulted in a tax loss worth about $17 million.
Ellsworth is facing up to three years in prison for each count and a fine of $250,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 14.
UP TO SPEED
What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.
