Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Indictment charges Las Vegas CPA, Iowa couple in tax-fraud scheme

A Las Vegas accountant was charged today in federal court on charges he helped an Iowa couple avoid paying more than $700,000 in taxes.

Federal prosecutors filed the charges against Wendell Leroy Waite, of Las Vegas, and Darlene and James McCord, of Iowa City, Iowa.

Prosecutors say in June 2003, the McCords allegedly owed the IRS approximately $197,420 in personal income taxes, and owed an additional IRS trust fund recovery penalty of approximately $547,788.

Around November 2004, the McCords deposited about $2.7 million into accounts with the Asset Protection Group Inc., whose primary function was to offer services to individuals to hide assets from creditors, including the IRS, prosecutors said.

APG later referred the McCords to Waite, and over the next two years, Waite filed multiple fraudulent federal tax returns for the McCords, concealing their actual income and assets, prosecutors say.

The defendants are scheduled to make initial appearances before a federal magistrate judge at 3 p.m. Thursday in Las Vegas.

According to the federal indictment, Darlene and James McCord owned several Nevada corporations, including TOB Management Inc., Que 1 Inc., and HTR Group Inc.

Waite was a licensed certified public accountant.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy