NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT INDICTED ON FEDERAL INCOME TAX
EVASION CHARGES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division announced today that a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Louisiana has returned a five-count indictment against a New Orleans man on federal income tax evasion charges.

The indictment, returned on Dec. 3, 2004 and unsealed today, charges Gilbert C. Jackson, 51, of New Orleans with five counts of federal income tax evasion in violation of Title 26 U.S.C. § 7201.

As alleged in the indictment, Jackson is a senior vice president for marketing and business development at a national engineering and consulting firm. Over the course of five years, from 1998 through 2002, the indictment alleges that Jackson reported only his income from the engineering firm. According to the indictment, he failed to file his federal income tax returns on a timely basis and, in the returns he filed, he willfully failed to report and pay taxes on income from a consulting business he operated totaling more than $500,000 over five years.

On that unreported income, according to the indictment, Jackson owes approximately $179,000 in tax excluding any interest and penalties. According to the indictment, Jackson failed to report income he received which was not reported to the Internal Revenue Service by Forms 1099 or W2. As alleged, he also made false statements to federal agents investigating his business activities including falsely claiming that he had reported and paid taxes on certain income from his consulting practice. The indictment further alleges that in a loan application Jackson submitted to a mortgage company under penalties of perjury, he concealed his tax liability to further his evasion scheme.

If convicted of these offenses, Jackson could face imprisonment of up to five years per count of income tax evasion and substantial fines and penalties.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This investigation is being conducted by Trial Attorney Mary K. Butler from the United States Department of Justice Public Integrity Section, Noel L. Hillman, Chief; the New Orleans Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.

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