Accountant Pleads Guilty in IRS Sting
A 60-year-old Sherman Oaks tax advisor pleaded guilty Wednesday to advising an undercover IRS agent not to report $40,000 worth of gold bars as assets during a tax settlement, authorities said.
Marvin Schaffer, a Beverly Hills resident who worked for Kaye, Kotts & Associates in Sherman Oaks, entered his plea before U.S. District Court Judge Robert Takasugi, who will sentence him Sept. 30, Assistant U.S. Atty. Nathan Hochman said.
According to federal documents, the undercover IRS agent claimed to be negotiating a settlement for $111,000 in taxes owed to the IRS when Schaffer advised him to not report the gold bars.
Hochman said the case is the first guilty plea from an undercover IRS investigation targeting businesses that advised taxpayers to conceal assets from the IRS to get a lower settlement.
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