Case: Sophisticated Means Enhancement Found by Filing False Tax Returns During Ponzi Scheme (S.D. Ind.) (IRC §451)

Sophisticated means sentencing enhancement appropriate where defendant, found guilty of running a Ponzi scheme, issued false Forms 1099 and filed tax returns to report fictitious interest, a district court held in dismissing a defendant’s motion to reconsider. Defendant argued that because Treas. Reg. §1.451-2(a) requires reporting of constructively received income, his filing the returns on behalf of such clients was not by way of sophisticated means. The court determined otherwise finding that such action is by definition fraudulent. The reported interest did not exist, that is, it was not “made available so that [the investors] may draw upon it …