San Rafael accountant faces more federal charges
A San Rafael accountant charged in an alleged financial scheme has been hit with another federal indictment.
The superseding indictment against Michael Gilbert includes counts of mail fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday. In February, Gilbert was charged with filing false tax returns.
Prosecutors allege Gilbert ran a scheme involving businesses he controlled: M.M. Gilbert & Company Inc. and White Mountain Properties Inc. He misled clients by telling them to make payments to White Mountain, which would be used for actions such as “asset acquisition,” “donations” and “tax structuring,” according to the indictment.
“Instead, Gilbert kept and diverted the clients’ payments for his own personal benefit,” the indictment alleges.
Gilbert allegedly informed clients that payments to White Mountain would lead to large tax benefits for them. He did not use such funds to secure tax benefits for his clients, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors also allege that Gilbert also transferred more than $5 million from White Mountain to himself and he did not report the payments on his individual tax returns.
Gilbert now faces 11 counts of making false tax returns, seven counts of mail fraud and four counts of money laundering.
The maximum prison sentence is 20 years for each count of mail fraud, 10 years for each count of money laundering and three years for each count of filing a false tax return.
Gilbert’s attorney, Joshua Lowther, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The next hearing is set for Aug. 6 before U.S. Magistrate Maxine Chesney in San Francisco.