Two defendants already charged in state court with bilking taxpayers out of millions of dollars were indicted this week on federal tax evasion charges.
The federal indictments of Joseph Kupfer and Elizabeth “Daisy” Kupfer were announced late this afternoon by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
From the news release:
“The three-count indictment alleges that Mr. and Mrs. Kupfer unlawfully failed to report at least $768,333 in taxable income during the years 2004 through 2006, thus evading $286,175 in taxes due and owing to the United States. If convicted of the charges in the indictment, Mr. and Mrs. Kupfer each face up to five-years imprisonment.”
The Kupfers are scheduled to be arraigned in Albuquerque on Dec. 28 at 9:30 a.m.
They are already facing state charges, along with former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and media consultant Armando Gutierrez, accusing them of stealing millions of dollars from the Secretary of State’s Office between 2004 and 2006 by falsifying invoices related to Gutierrez’s contract with the office. Each faces 50 state felony counts including money laundering, fraud, soliciting or receiving kickbacks and tax evasion.
All defendants have pleaded not guilty in that case. Trial had been scheduled for January but was recently delayed. A new date has not been set.
As I’ve reported, Joseph Kupfer was being paid as a consultant in Vigil-Giron’s office and as a subcontractor to Gutierrez at the time of the alleged crimes.
The news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the federal case states that Joseph and Elizabeth Kupfer received more than $1.3 million in income from their company, Kupfer Consulting, from 2004 to 2006, but only reported $502,541 in tax returns.
“The Kupfers are charged with knowingly taking steps to conceal approximately $768,333 in income by providing incomplete information to their tax preparer and thus avoiding paying taxes on that amount,” the release states.
You can read the federal indictment here.
Attorneys for Joseph and Elizabeth Kupfer could not immediately be reached for comment.