Business owner, co-defendant sentenced for tax conspiracy
SBJ Staff
Posted online
An Ozark man who ran a Springfield business and a co-conspirator were sentenced yesterday for avoiding over $585,000 in federal taxes.
Wesley Delport, 70, of Ozark, was sentenced to three years and 10 months in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay restitution of $585,733 and a fine of $5,000 to the IRS.
Co-defendant Alton Vaughn Sr., 59, of Greene County, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison and ordered to pay $585,733 in restitution to the IRS and another $3,595 in restitution to one of his individual victims, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Delport, who owned Springfield holistic health clinic Abundant Health & Wellness, received gross receipts totaling $4.7 million between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2013. The income was not reported to the IRS and he did not pay taxes for it.
Vaughn, who was self-employed and derived a portion of his income helping others prepare their tax returns and advising them in dealings with the IRS, assisted Delport in covering up the owed taxes, according to the release.
In his August guilty plea, Delport admitted he created an entity in Washington state called The Shammah Foundation for the purpose of hiding his income. The foundation’s bank account was used for his personal expenses.
As part of efforts to impede examination by the IRS, Delport and Vaughn falsely reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration that an IRS officer and criminal investigator coerced, intimidated and threatened Delport, according to the release.
The co-conspirators also refused to comply with federal grand jury subpoenas for tax and business records by telling the U.S. attorney’s office the IRS officer personally seized and collected all of Delport’s 2003-09 income documents.
Further, the defendants admitted to attempting to hinder a grand jury investigation by telling an Abundant Health employee not to testify, according to the release.
