Miami Business Woman Convicted of Tax Evasion

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Betty N. Stewart, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, and Lester Fernandez, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, announced that defendant Sorga Suarez, a/k/a Sorgalim Barzaga, a/k/a Sorgalim Sin Barzaga, a/k/a Sorgalim Valladares, a/k/a Lizette Valladares, a/k/a/ Lizette Solis, of Miami, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Cooke to 48 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release. Suarez was convicted on October 17, 2008, on a charge of tax evasion.

According to court documents and evidence presented in court, Suarez owned and operated Business Etcetera, Inc. (BEI), a private for-profit company that was primarily funded by federal student loans and grants issued by the U.S. Department of Education. BEI was located at 720 N.W. 27th Avenue, in Miami. During calendar year 2001, Suarez received taxable income of more than $1,000,000 and owed a substantial amount of income tax to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Suarez, however, failed to file an income tax return for calendar year 2001. In addition, she concealed from the IRS the nature and extent of her assets and her true income by having her company, BEI, pay her personal expenses and then falsely classifying the expenditures in corporate accounting records as deductible expenses of the corporation.

Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lois Foster-Steers.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls