A software engineering manager who evaded income taxes by deducting more than $1 million in medical bills for an appendectomy was convicted this week by a federal jury in San Francisco.
Dwayne Lorenzo Richardson, 53, has been found guilty in U.S. District Court on three counts of tax evasion, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Richardson evaded income taxes for 2017, 2018 and 2019 by claiming he owed only about $28,500, even though he earned more than $1.2 million as a software engineering manager, according to prosecutors.
On his tax returns, Richardson reported more than $1.1 million in medical expenses, overestimating those costs by more than $945,000.
According to prosecutors, he received tax refunds totaling more than $165,000 for the three tax years assessed.
Richardson, a San Francisco resident, lied to an IRS agent in two audit interviews, saying the $1.1 million in medical bills was related to an appendectomy. However, court records showed that he paid a few hundred dollars for treatment related to the surgery, which took place in 2010.
Richardson told a representative at the tax audit that he had been deducting non-existent medical expenses from his taxes for years “because he didn’t ‘get caught’ the first time he did it,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Richardson’s sentencing is set for January 14, 2025. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine for each of the three charges.