Two Maryland brothers are each facing up to five years in federal prison after admitting they hid millions in income and funneled the money through a shell company to avoid paying taxes.
Dennis and Greg March, twin brothers from Berlin, Maryland, each pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. From 2017 through 2022, the brothers willfully evaded taxes on both their business and personal income while running several entities, including Elite Marketing Group LLC and Principal Law Group, with a third business partner.
The scheme came down to disguising income as business expenses. The brothers routed payments to a shell company they controlled, then treated those payments as business costs — when they were really distributions to themselves. They also skipped filing required business and personal tax returns altogether.
The money didn’t sit still. Between 2017 and 2022, the brothers pulled more than $3.5 million in cash out of business accounts, and in 2021 they used scheme income to buy more than $2 million in Florida real estate, plus construction of two new homes.
In all, each brother concealed more than $4.5 million in income and failed to pay nearly $1.8 million in taxes. They’re scheduled to be sentenced on November 6.
This case is a reminder that how you label a payment doesn’t change what it actually is. Routing income through a shell company and calling it a business expense isn’t a gray area — the IRS sees through it, and treating personal income as a deductible cost is one of the clearest paths from a tax problem to a criminal one.
If you have back taxes, unfiled returns, or concerns about how income has been reported in your business, don’t wait for it to get worse. Contact Ron Friedman CPA today for a free consultation. We’ll review your situation, explain your options, and help you take the next step toward resolving your tax problem.
