Former Branson citizen pleads guilty to tax evasion

A former Branson resident has waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty in federal court to income tax evasion, according to a news release from Beth Phillips, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

James Caler, 49, of Tempe, Ariz., and formerly of Branson, admitted that he and his wife, Nancy Caler, stopped filing federal income tax returns in the late 1980s after having tax problems with the Internal Revenue Service. They have hidden their taxable income ever since.

To hide their income, the Calers used fictitious names - James Adams, J.D. Adams, Marilyn Adams and Marilyn Akers - and obtained false driver's licenses using the aliases in Missouri and Arkansas. They also used the identities to open bank accounts at Bank of America and U.S. Bank, the release said.

The Calers worked for Arizona-based UBuildit from 2006 to 2009 and had the company issue their paychecks to limited liability corporations created by the Calers. The paychecks then were deposited into the bank accounts created by the alias names of James and Marilyn Adams. At the end of each tax year, UBuildit issued IRS forms to the LLCs per James Caler's request. By doing so, the the IRS could not detect the income earned.

The LLCs were not named.

James Caler also submitted an IRS form to UBuildit on which he claimed to be exempt from federal withholding, causing the company not to withhold taxes from Caler's pay.

From 2005 to 2009, Caler earned additional income from construction projects, real estate sales and the sale of gold coins.

For the tax years 2005-2009, the total federal income tax due is $84,683.

Federal statutes dictate that Caler could be subject to up to five years in federal prison without parole and a fine of up to $100,000.

A sentencing hearing will occur after completion of the presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Oliver and was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation.[[In-content Ad]]