(Trinidad Express) The former owner of Island Club Casino in Grand Bazaar has been charged in the United States with three counts of tax evasion and three counts of wilfully failing to file personal tax returns.
David Migliore, 50, from New Jersey, USA, surrendered to special agents of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Criminal Investigation yesterday, according to media reports.
Reports state, according to the indictment which was unsealed yesterday, from 2009 to 2011, Migliore earned significant income from Island Club Casino, resulting in taxes due totalling more than US$1 million.
Migliore is accused of taking a series of steps to hide his income and assets from the IRS, including having employees from the casino wire money to New Jersey.
He appeared in the US District Court in Newark and was released on US$1 million bond secured by two properties and ordered to submit to electronic monitoring, according to media reports.
He did not enter a plea and is scheduled to return to court next week.
Migliore was represented by attorney Robert Weir.
Weir said Migliore owned Island Club casino in Trinidad for about ten years until recently but spent most of his time in New Jersey and had not been to Trinidad in years.
Each tax evasion count comes with a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a US$250,000 fine.
Each count of failing to file tax returns is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of one year in prison and a US$100,000 fine.
According to the indictment, Migliore allegedly:
•Used unreported bank accounts in Trinidad to deposit personal income.
•Used US bank accounts in the names of his limited liability corporations and business entities to get personal income from Island Club casino in Trinidad.
•Used limited liability corporations and business entities to pay for personal expenses in New Jersey and elsewhere.
•Placed personal property in the names of limited liability corporations and business entities.
•Directed income from Island Club Casino in Trinidad to be transferred directly to vendors in the United States to pay for his personal expenses.
•Directed employees of Island Club Casino to send his income from the casino to individuals in New Jersey via Western Union for his benefit.
•Directed individuals to pick up cash, which was income attributed to him, from Western Union offices in New Jersey.
