Former Lewisboro Town Justice Sentenced To Prison For Tax Evasion
A former Lewisboro town justice will spend the next six months in prison after failing to pay nearly $500,000 in taxes and falsifying information during a roughly eight-year long tax evasion scheme.
Marc Seedorf, a 64-year old South Salem resident, was sentenced on Tuesday in White Plains Federal Court to six months in federal prison, three years of supervised release and pay a $55,000 fine. Currently, Seedorf has already paid $207,219 in restitution to the IRS, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Marc Seedorf, a member of the judiciary and former Assistant District Attorney, knew well his obligations under the law to file income tax returns and pay tax when due,” Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said. “Instead, he chose to conceal assets and provide false information to the IRS. For his admitted crime, Seedorf will now serve a six-month prison sentence and be compelled to pay his unpaid taxes.”
Between 2005 and 2015, Seedorf did not file his U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, despite being required to do so, according to the statement, resulting in him incurring about $487,000 in total tax liability based on incomes earned between 2005 and 2013.
During this time, Seedorf had several sources of income, working as an administrative law judge for Westchester County and Lewisboro’s town justice, a position he had held for 23 years before resigning in March soon after pleading guilty to his charges. Additionally, Seedorf was receiving income from a private law practice.
In 2012, Seedorf also received over $1.5 million in settlement money from a civil lawsuit, which was later dispersed into several accounts, not including his personal bank account, per his request. Officials stated Seedorf split the money between accounts for the law firm, his lawyer and his brother-in-law’s personal account to disguise any source of funds he used to make payments to the IRS and other creditors, and the existence of the remainder of the settlement proceeds.
From January 2010 to June 2013, the IRS further attempted to collect Seedorf’s tax liability, but he failed to provide any records to the IRS or make any payments, the statement said.
In 2013, after the IRS initiated a process to place a levy upon Seedorf’s investment account, Seedorf instructed his law firm to wire $400,000 of the settlement proceeds to his own law firm’s attorney trust account to pay his outstanding tax liability from 2005 to 2008.
However, during a conversation with an IRS Revenue Officer concerning the source of the funds, Seedorf falsely stated that he had borrowed the money from his own law firm’s trust account, failing to disclose the lawsuit or existence of the remaining settlement balance of $540,000 in his attorney’s trust account.
In all, Seedorf caused the IRS to incur losses of over $200,000, including penalties and interest, according to the statement.
