NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey man pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return, admitting he failed to report income over multiple years and avoided paying more than $1 million in taxes, federal authorities announced.
Francis Esposito, 66, of Red Bank, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge Georgette Castner in Trenton federal court. He was charged with one count of filing a false tax return, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said.
Prosecutors said Esposito, who owned multiple business entities, failed to report substantial income on his personal tax returns from 2015 through 2018. His unreported earnings totaled approximately $3 million, resulting in an estimated tax loss of $1,149,372.
For tax year 2018 alone, Esposito omitted $719,272 in income, leading to a tax loss of $216,635. Similar discrepancies in previous years resulted in losses of $383,806 in 2017, $304,640 in 2016, and $244,291 in 2015, according to court documents.
The charge of filing a false tax return carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the financial loss caused by the offense.