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Former Chicago Attorney Sentenced to Two and a Half Years in Federal Prison for Tax Fraud and Witness Tampering
A former Chicago attorney has been sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison for committing tax fraud, attempting to tamper with a witness, and violating a court order.
Michael Abramson provided more than $1 million in personal expenses to a woman with whom he was romantically involved and then deducted the payments on his individual taxes by falsely characterizing them as commissions or loans.
He also listed the fraudulent loans as an asset in corporate tax returns that he caused to be filed for a company in which he held an ownership interest.
The payments related to a condo in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, several luxury automobiles, and travel, shopping, and restaurant expenses.
Following the indictment in this case, the Court ordered Abramson not to have any contact with witnesses, including Abramson’s bookkeeper, whom Abramson knew would be an important government witness at trial. Weeks before trial was initially set to begin, Abramson gave the bookkeeper a copy of her previous court testimony, on which he had made handwritten notes changing, supplementing, or otherwise scripting her answers, and told her to review it before trial. Although Abramson told the bookkeeper not to bring the notes to a meeting with law enforcement, the bookkeeper nonetheless turned the scripted transcript over to law enforcement.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago last year convicted Abramson, 76, of Wilmette Ill., on all 15 tax fraud, witness tampering, and violation of court order charges against him. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah sentenced Abramson to 30 months in federal prison and fined him $25,000.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Jason Bushey, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.
“Defendant, an attorney practicing in the State of Illinois for decades, defrauded the IRS, repeatedly attempted to obstruct the IRS and FBI’s investigation into his misconduct, and tampered with a key witness in violation of a court order during his prosecution,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard M. Rothblatt and Edward A. Liva, Jr. argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “As an attorney well-versed in business, tax, and financial matters, defendant knew better, yet sought to conceal and profit from personal payments to his mistress.”
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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