FLORIDA – A Florida dentist has been convicted for evading taxes after he reportedly hid hundreds of thousands of dollars in his mother’s bank accounts.
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Frantz Brignol, of Leesburg, was found guilty of tax evasion on August 4 by a federal jury in Orlando, said United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg.
Brignol faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 9, 2023, before Senior United States District Judge Gregory A. Presnell.
Brignol was indicted on November 22, 2022.
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According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Brignol amassed more than $600,000 in tax liabilities with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Between 2014 and 2020, he is said to have evaded his tax payments by hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in his mother’s bank accounts (for which he had signatory authority), trading funds overseas in his mother’s name, and making materially false statements to the IRS on financial disclosure forms.
According to court documents, Brignol originally pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of failing to file a tax return but later withdrew his plea saying he was previously unaware of the collateral consequences that his plea would have on his dental license. The motion to withdraw the plea was approved on May 18, 2023.
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This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Hannah Nowalk and William S. Hamilton.
