Baltimore (July 21, 2010)
John Venuti, a 62-year-old tax consultant, former principal at KPMG and former IRS tax specialist, has pleaded guilty to failing to file his tax returns for six years.
Venuti, of Harwood, Md., worked for KPMG from 2002 until January 2010 after working for the IRS from 1974 to 1983, including a period of three years during which he served as a division chief of the Tax Treaty and Technical Services Division.
For tax years 2001 to 2006, Venuti’s total gross income was $3,625,133. Although he filed for extensions for each of these years, and made payments along with his extension requests totaling $97,060, Venuti did not file the tax returns themselves. Accordingly, he ended up owing $789,629 in back taxes.
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Venuti did file his federal return for tax year 2007, however. In November 2007, the IRS contacted him about his failure to file his federal taxes for the previous six years, and in May 2008 he was advised that he was under criminal investigation. In July 2008, Venuti eventually submitted tax returns for the previous six years.
Venuti faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison for each of the three counts of failing to file tax returns. U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson has scheduled sentencing for Nov. 2.
