The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced on Friday that attorney Elliot Adler, the eleventh and last individual being prosecuted for the tax fraud scheme connected with Chabad of Poway, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, fined $20,000, and ordered to forfeit gold coins purchased with funds used in the fraud. According to the announcement:
Beginning at least as early as 2010 and continuing through October 2018, Adler participated in a so-called “90/10” tax scheme with Rabbi Goldstein. Specifically, Adler gave money to Rabbi Goldstein that purported to be a donation to Chabad of Poway. Goldstein then secretly funneled ninety percent of the funds back to Adler, keeping ten percent of the funds as his fee. None of the donated funds was actually given to the Chabad as a charitable donation. Adler then falsely claimed that the fraudulent donations were tax-deductible on his tax returns, allowing him to reduce his personal income tax liability by approximately $500,000 (cumulatively) for tax years 2011 through 2017.
(See prior related posting.)
