Couple Charged With Tax Evasion
A Palos Verdes Estates couple has been charged with felony tax evasion for failing to pay income taxes estimated at more than $23,000, a state Franchise Tax Board spokesman said Thursday.
Dr. Max R. Moses, 49, an orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente in Harbor City, and his wife, Marlene E. Moses, 39, a Rolling Hills Estates real estate agent, face arraignment on Jan. 23 in South Bay Municipal Court.
Neither the couple nor their attorney returned telephone calls seeking comment on the case.
The couple are accused of failing to file state tax returns for 1985 and 1987 and filing an allegedly false return in 1986, tax board spokesman Jim Reber said. The board’s investigation of the couple’s tax returns from other years is continuing, he said.
If convicted, the couple could be sentenced to up to nine years in state prison. They also could be ordered to pay interest on the amount owed and fines of up to $120,000.
Reber said the case surfaced as part of a pilot program to track down information on self-employed professionals, such as doctors and attorneys, who are not subject to income tax withholding from their paychecks.
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