Ex-business owner sentenced to prison for IRS dodging

A former Springfield auto shop owner was sentenced in federal court Oct. 18 for structuring financial transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements and for possessing stolen firearms, according to a news release from Beth Phillips, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr sentenced Daniel Rook, 55, former owner of Rook's Auto Service, to two years in prison, with a $25,000 fine. He also was ordered to forfeit to the government a sum of more than $200,000, including a Lexus, approximately $80,000 that was seized from two bank accounts and more than $90,000 seized from his home, the release said.

On April 16, Rook pleaded guilty to nine counts of structuring financial transactions and one count of possessing stolen firearms.

Earlier in the month, Rook admitted to possession of two stolen shotguns and four stolen rifles.

In the process of investigating the stolen property, law enforcement agents reviewed Rook's bank records and found a series of bank deposits in the $9,000 range, less than the $10,000 amount that federal law mandates must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service, the release said.

Between July 11, 2005, and Nov. 30, 2007, Rook deposited $210,195, which he admitted he deliberately structured to go unnoticed by the IRS.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kelleher and was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Springfield Police Department.[[In-content Ad]]