HARRISBURG — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Matthew Forney, age 41, of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 12 months and one day imprisonment followed by one year supervised release and a $40,000 fine by U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer P. Wilson on four counts of tax evasion.
According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, on September 23, 2018, police were called to the residence of Matthew and Kim Forney for reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, police discovered that their daughter’s boyfriend had shot both Matthew and Kim Forney. While securing the residence, officers observed bloody footprints leading through the house to an outside pool house. Inside the pool house, the police located a garbage bag, which contained a large amount of bundled United States currency. Police obtained and executed a search warrant. Inside a large gun safe located in the residence, police found additional amounts of bundled cash attached to business receipts. The officers seized the cash and receipts.
The Forney’s daughter’s boyfriend was charged with two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the shooting, but charges were ultimately dismissed on June 19, 2019.
An investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation determined that this currency was income that Matthew and Kim Forney earned through their business, but omitted on their federal income tax returns for the years 2014 through 2017. The Forneys deposited checks from their business sales into the business bank account, which was reported as taxable income on their tax returns, along with credit card sales. However, the Forneys retained any cash from their business sales at their residence. The Forneys did not report this cash as taxable income on their tax returns or pay taxes on these monies. The unreported income for these years totaled $817,713, which resulted in $292,066 in unpaid taxes.
Kim Forney was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment by Judge Wilson on March 4, 2021.
“The license to run a business is not a license to evade taxes,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Thomas Fattorusso. “Mr. and Mrs. Forney thought they could hoard all of their cash earnings and fly under the radar of the IRS, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Anyone contemplating similar criminal conduct should beware; IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agents are uniquely qualified to trace all sources of income.”
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Daryl Bloom is prosecuting the case.
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