A Hawaii businessman, aided by his accountant, has been accused of failing to report more than $3 million of his firm's revenue. Assisted by accountant, Michael H. Higa, Wagdy A. Guirguis allegedly transferred assets to avoid an IRS assessment of about $812,000 on unpaid employment taxes for his engineering company GMP Associates and other businesses. If convicted, the two each face the possibility of decades of prison time.
An indictment charges Guirguis and Higa transferred funds to a nominee entity controlled by Higa, a CPA, to avoid attempts by the Internal Revenue Service to collect unemployment taxes. Guirguis is also charged with transferring ownership of a luxury condominium to his wife and used a nominee entity to divert approximately $1.15 million.
Besides allegedly failing to report more than $3 million in revenue for GMP, Guirguis is also accused of failing to report about $465,000 in income diverted through the nominee entity. He is also charged with attempting to tamper with a witness during the course of the grand jury's investigation and corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the IRS, by lying to an IRS revenue officer and special agents, among other methods.
If convicted, Guirguis and Higa each face a maximum of five years in prison for conspiracy, five years for each tax evasion count, three years for each of the false return counts, three years for the corrupt endeavor, one year for the failure‑to‑file, and 20 years for the witness tampering.
Higa also faces a maximum sentence of three years for each of the aiding and assisting counts. Both, Guirguis and Higa face the possibility of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.