April 3, 2003

PRESS RELEASE

ROCKPORT MAN CHARGED WITH
TAX EVASION AND USE OF FALSE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

Boston, MA... In an Indictment returned today in federal court, a Rockport man was charged with having evaded federal income taxes owed on more than $940,000 in unreported business and interest income received during the years 1996 to 1999.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Joseph A. Galasso, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, announced that DANIEL H. GEORGE, age 55, of 1 Warren Court, Rockport, Massachusetts, was charged in an eight-count Indictment with tax evasion and use of a false social security number.

"This indictment should serve as a timely reminder that on April 15th, all of us must file a tax return with the IRS and satisfy the tax obligations that we owe to our country," stated U.S. Attorney Sullivan. "People who seek to avoid fulfilling that obligation can and will be criminally prosecuted."

According to the Indictment, GEORGE is a self-described chemist who owned and operated a business manufacturing, selling and analyzing mineral and herbal products and other ingredients used in nutritional supplements and health and sports drinks.

The Indictment charges that for calendar years 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, GEORGE received more than $460,000 in gross income from his business. The Indictment further charges that over the same time period, GEORGE earned over $470,000 in interest income on various Massachusetts bank accounts that he maintained. Notwithstanding this substantial income, the indictment alleges that GEORGE filed no tax returns, reported none of his income, and paid no taxes on it. It is alleged that instead, GEORGE took affirmative actions to conceal his income, including depositing the income into bank accounts that GEORGE opened using false social security numbers.

If convicted, GEORGE faces up to 5 years' imprisonment on each of the Indictment's eight counts, together with a fine of up to $500,000.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Pineault in Sullivan's Economic Crimes Unit.

Press Contact: Samantha Martin, (617) 748-3139