Houston Tax Fraud Lawyers

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our mission is simple: we believe everyone deserves a fighting chance when the government comes after them. If you're reading this, something happened that made you search for tax fraud lawyers in Houston. Maybe the IRS sent a letter. Maybe federal agents showed up at your business. Maybe your accountant called with news that made your stomach drop. Whatever brought you here, you need to understand something most people don't realize until it's too late.

Tax fraud in Houston isn't like tax fraud in New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. In those cities, you face two governments - federal and state - who can both prosecute you for the same conduct. In Houston, you face something different. Texas has no state income tax. You might think that makes Houston safer. It doesn't. It means the federal government gets you all to themselves. Every IRS Criminal Investigation agent, every FBI financial crimes specialist, every federal prosecutor - they're all pointed directly at you, with no state agencies to dilute their attention or share jurisdiction.

Most people think dual sovereignty is the threat. In Houston, the threat is CONCENTRATED sovereignty. The Southern District of Texas doesn't have to coordinate with state prosecutors. They don't have to share resources with a state tax agency. They don't have to compete for your case. They OWN your case. And the Southern District of Texas has spent decades becoming the nation's experts in energy industry fraud - the kind of complex financial schemes that Houston companies specialize in. IRS Criminal Investigation has a 90% conviction rate, and in Houston, they bring that full weight with nothing to slow them down.

The Federal Government Gets You All To Themselves

Heres the thing most people dont understand about tax fraud in Houston. Texas is one of only nine states with no income tax. Florida, Nevada, Washington, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Tennessee, and New Hampshire are the others. But Houston is the largest city in the no-income-tax world. The fourth largest city in America. And that creates a unique prosecution dynamic that most people dont see coming.

In New York, if your facing tax fraud charges, the federal government and the state government both want a piece of you. They have to coordinate. Sometimes they compete. Resources get split. Attention gets divided. The state might offer a plea deal to close out there case, which affects the federal calculation. In Chicago, same thing - dual prosecution means divided focus. In LA, California and the feds are both building cases.

But in Houston? Theres only one player. The Southern District of Texas. The U.S. Attorneys Office. IRS Criminal Investigation. FBI Financial Crimes. Thats it. Every investigator, every prosecutor, every agent - they all work for one team. There all focused on one outcome: federal conviction. There no state case running parallel. There no state plea deal to muddy the waters. Its just you versus the full weight of the federal government.

And dont think that means less resources dedicated to your case. It means MORE. The resources that would be split in other states are concentrated here. IRS-CI Houston dosent have to share information with a state tax agency. They dont have to coordinate investigations. They can move faster. They can focus deeper. And they have decades of experience in exactly the kind of complex financial fraud that Houston businesses generate.

Southern District of Texas: Energy Fraud Experts

Houston is the energy capital of America. Oil companies, gas companies, petrochemical corporations, drilling operations, pipeline companies, refineries - the entire industry is headquartered here. And that means the Southern District of Texas has become Americas expert in energy sector fraud. The prosecutors here have seen every scheme. The IRS-CI agents here understand complex transactions that would baffle investigators in other districts. When it comes to hiding income through partnership structures, manipulating depletion allowances, inflating exploration costs, or running fraudulent transfer pricing - SDTX has seen it all.

This expertise works against you. In another district, complex financial structures might confuse investigators. In Houston, they recognize the patterns. They know what to look for. They know which documents to subpeona. They know which witnesses to pressure. Theyve prosecuted executives from major energy companies. Theyve taken down sophisticated schemes that involved dozens of shell companies and offshore accounts. Your clever accounting dosent impress them. Your complicated corporate structure dosent slow them down. Theyve seen it before.

And heres the part most people miss. The energy industry expertise spills over into every other kind of tax fraud prosecution. The skills SDTX developed chasing billion-dollar energy schemes? They use those same skills on your small business. The forensic accounting techniques they perfected on offshore structures? They apply those to your unreported income. You get investigated by prosecutors who trained on the most complex cases in America - even if your case is relatively simple.

The FBI Houston field office has a dedicated white-collar crimes squad that works hand-in-hand with IRS-CI. These agencies coordinate seamlessly. They share intelligence. They build cases together. When you become a target in Houston, your not facing a single agency - your facing a multi-agency task force with shared expertise and unlimited patience. They can investigate for years before you ever know theres a problem.

When Your Civil Audit Becomes Criminal

An IRS audit seems like a tax problem, not a criminal one. Your dealing with a Revenue Agent, answering questions, providing documents, trying to resolve the issue. Its stressful but it feels managable. Your cooperating. Your being helpful. Your doing everything there asking. But heres what nobody tells you - that auditor is trained to spot criminal indicators. And when they find them, they refer you to Criminal Investigation without telling you.

Let that sink in. The person your cooperating with, the person your trying to help, the person your providing documents to - that person can send your file to criminal investigators and never tell you it happened. The referral happens through Form 2797. Your never notified when this form is filed. There no letter, no phone call, no warning. The civil audit continues like nothing changed, but in the background, a Special Agent has been assigned to your case and evidence gathering begins.

Everything you said during your "civil" audit - every explaination you gave trying to be helpful - is now being compiled into a criminal case against you. Your cooperation is building the prosecutions file:

• The helpful documents you provided? Evidence.
• The detailed explainations you gave? Admissions.
• The questions you answered honestly? Self-incrimination.

You were building the case against yourself and you didnt even know it.

Heres the part that makes defense lawyers cringe. You might think your accountant protects you. Theres no accountant-client privilege for tax matters. None. Your accountant can be compelled to testify against you. Your CPA can be subpeonaed. Your bookkeeper can be put on the witness stand. Everyone you talked to about your taxes becomes a potential witness for the prosecution. The person you hired to help you can become the governments star witness against you.

And its not just your accountant. Its your bookkeeper. Your financial advisor. Your business partner. Your spouse. Anyone who knows anything about your tax situation can be compelled to testify. The prosecution dosent need your permission. They have subpeona power. And once someone starts talking to federal investigators, they tend to keep talking becuase the alternative is facing there own obstruction charges.

Federal Tax Fraud Penalties in Texas

Federal tax evasion under 26 USC 7201 carries up to 5 years in prison per count. Thats the starting point. But heres were it gets worse in Houston compared to other cities. In New York or Chicago, you might be able to negotiate state charges separately - work out a deal on one side that affects the other. In Houston, there IS no other side. The federal government sets the terms. You either fight them or you negotiate with them. There no state prosecutor to play against the feds.

Fines for federal tax evasion can reach $100,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. Plus restitution - every dollar you allegedly evaded, with interest and penalties. Plus supervised release after prison. Plus a felony conviction that follows you forever. Professional licenses revoked. Career destroyed. Reputation demolished. And in Houston, you cant hope that state charges might be easier to resolve. Federal is the only game in town.

OK so heres were the math gets scary. Five years per count. If you have multiple years of fraudulent returns, thats multiple counts. If you helped others with there taxes, thats additional counts. If you made false statements during the investigation, more counts. The numbers add up fast. And federal sentences are served at 85% minimum - no early release for good behavior like in state systems. When the federal government says five years, they mean at least four years and three months.

Restitution in tax fraud cases means paying back every dollar you allegedly evaded. The IRS charges penalties on top of the principal. Interest accrues. Combined, the financial destruction can be total. Liens on your home. Seizure of bank accounts. Garnishment of future income. Even if you somehow avoid prison, the financial consequences can follow you for the rest of your life. And dont think bankruptcy will save you - tax debts are extremly difficult to discharge.

Signs Your Already a Criminal Target in Houston

When federal agents contact you, the type of agent matters more then anything else. IRS Revenue Agent means civil audit - you still have time to prepare, options are still open, your not necesarily in criminal jeopardy. IRS Special Agent means criminal investigation - they've already decided your a target. If a Special Agent shows up at your door, the investigation has been running for months or years before you ever knew about it.

How do you know which type your dealing with? Special Agents carry badges and guns. Revenue Agents dont. Special Agents will introduce themselves as being from IRS Criminal Investigation. There not there to audit your return. There not there to help you resolve a tax problem. There there to gather evidence for a criminal prosecution. And by the time they show up, theyve already reviewed your returns, analyzed your bank records, interviewed witnesses, and concluded that you probably commited a crime.

Heres the thing about Special Agents in Houston. They have energy industry expertise. They understand complex transactions. They know what "normal" looks like for oil and gas accounting, for partnership distributions, for depletion allowances. If your in the energy business and an IRS-CI agent shows up, they already understand your industry. Your not going to confuse them with technical jargon or complicated structures. Theyve seen it all before.

Your instinct will be to explain yourself. Clear things up. Show them your not a criminal. Answer there questions. Provide more documents. Cooperate fully. This is exactly what they want, and it destroys your defense. Anything you say without a lawyer present becomes evidence. Every word. Every document. Every helpful explaination. And investigators are trained to ask questions that elicit incriminating responses. They know what there doing. You dont.

The correct response is to politely decline to answer and call a tax fraud attorney immediatly. Not tomorrow. Not after you "get your documents together." Not after you talk to your accountant. Immediatly. Every minute you spend talking to a Special Agent without counsel is a minute your making your situation worse.

What Happens in the First 48 Hours

The moment you learn of a criminal tax investigation, a clock starts. You have 48 hours before critical options start closing. Agents are trained to extract statements fast - before you have time to think, before you can talk to a lawyer, before you understand whats happening. Every word you say without counsel is a mistake that cant be undone.

Heres what there doing while your panicking:

• Interviewing your employees
• Talking to your vendors
• Questioning family members
• Seizing documents
• Freezing bank accounts
• Issuing subpoenas
• Building there case

Your business is being dismantled while you try to figure out whats happening. By the time most people understand the severity, the damage is already done.

And heres the part most people dont think about. Your family members can be brought in for questioning. Your spouse can be subpeonaed. Your adult children can be interviewed. Anyone who might know anything about your finances can be compelled to talk. And what they say becomes evidence. Not just against you - potentialy against them too. Tax fraud investigations have a way of expanding to include everyone in orbit.

The only correct action in the first 48 hours: say nothing, sign nothing, call a tax fraud lawyer. Not a general attorney who dabbles in tax issues. Not your cousin who passed the bar. Someone who handles federal tax crimes exclusivly. Someone who understands IRS-CI, the Southern District of Texas, and federal prosecution. Someone whos been in the trenches. This is the one window were intervention can change everything.

Real Houston Tax Fraud Cases That Destroyed Lives

Think your to small to prosecute? Houston-area tax preparers get prosecuted regularly. Neighborhood shops that help working-class families file there returns. Nothing glamorous. Nothing high-profile. But the Southern District dosent care about glamour. They care about proveable fraud and guaranteed convictions. The size of your operation dosent protect you. The only thing prosecutors care about is wheather they can prove the case.

Maybe you think professional expertise protects you. Energy industry executives have been prosecuted. Lawyers have been convicted. Accountants have gone to prison. People who spent there entire careers understanding tax law - people who knew the system inside and out - caught and destroyed. Professional knowledge didnt protect them. Understanding how the IRS works didnt save them. The system caught them anyway.

Heres what all these cases have in common. Everyone thought they were to smart or to small to prosecute. "They wont come after me." "I'm not a big enough fish." "My situation is different." "I know how this works." IRS-CI has a 90% conviction rate for a reason - they only bring cases there certain to win. If your reading this because agents contacted you, your already on there radar. The question isnt wheather your going to be investigated. The question is what you do about it.

Why You Need a Houston Tax Fraud Lawyer NOW

Your reading this because something happened. An agent visit. A letter. A subpoena. A phone call from your accountant that made your stomach drop. Right now, today, you have options you wont have next week. Pre-indictment intervention can sometimes prevent charges. Voluntary disclosure programs may still be available. Cooperation agreements can be structured. Plea negotiations can begin early. But that window closes fast.

Heres were the timing matters. Before indictment, your a "target" or a "subject" - categories that have some room for manuver. After indictment, your a defendant. The charging decision has been made. The grand jury has returned a true bill. Your facing trial. Everything changes. The leverage shifts. The options narrow. The cost skyrockets.

At Spodek Law Group, we handle federal tax fraud cases. Todd Spodek has defended clients against IRS-CI and Southern District of Texas prosecutors. We understand the unique threat your facing in Houston - where the federal government has 100% focus on your case with no state prosecution to dilute there attention. We've seen what happens when people wait. We've seen clients who talked to agents without counsel and destroyed there own cases. We've seen business owners who thought they could handle it themselves and ended up in federal prison.

The consultation is free. The cost of waiting isnt. Call 212-300-5196. The prosecutors arnt waiting for you to get organized. There building there case right now, today, while your reading this article. There interviewing witnesses. There reviewing documents. There preparing charges. The question is wheather you'll have representation when they make there move - or wheather you'll be one more conviction in there 90% rate.

We've been doing this for years. We know how IRS-CI builds cases. We know how SDTX prosecutors think. We know the judges, the courtrooms, the procedures. And we know what happens to people who try to navigate this system without experienced counsel. Some of them are in federal prison right now, serving sentences that could have been avoided or reduced if they had called a lawyer earlier.

The choice is yours. But the window is closing. Every day you wait is a day the government spends building there case against you. Make the call. Protect yourself. Protect your family. Protect your future. Because once the indictment comes down, protecting becomes much, much harder.