Tax Talk

Real Estate Developer Develops Amnesia, Forgets to Report 7 Million Dollars in Income

Mark Handel, a California real estate developer, has been charged with failing to disclose almost 2.3 million dollars in income on a bankruptcy petition and for filing false tax returns.

According to the plea agreement, Handel filed a bankruptcy petition in Los Angeles in April 2015, stating that he had no income from 2013 until April 2015. However, during that time, he earned $2,263,221 in income from his real estate development company. He concealed the income by depositing it into his business accounts and used it to pay personal living expenses for himself and his family.

He also failed to report a total of $6,886,877 in income on his federal tax returns from 2010 to 2017.

Handel has agreed to forfeit $3,545,712 in proceeds from the sale of real estate and pay the IRS $1,450,070 in restitution. He has refused to plead guilty, and the case is going to trial. He faces a maximum penalty of eight years in federal prison.

Mark Diehl is the founder and president of Diehl CPA LLC and a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Alaska. He has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in Accounting from Western Governors University. Mark has previously worked with the Minnesota Department of Revenue as a tax auditor, so he knows the audit process very well. Diehl CPA is Alaska's expert in Tax Negotiation and Mediation.