Escambia Attorney Indicted On Federal Tax Charges

September 24, 2016

An Escambia County attorney has been indicted on federal income tax charges.

James R.J. Scheltema, 56, of Pensacola, made an initial appearance Friday in the U.S. District Court in Pensacola after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging him with filing false tax returns and tax evasion. The indictment was announced by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

The indictment alleges that Scheltema filed false tax returns, claiming a total tax of $18 for 2011  and $1,369 for 2012, when he knew his total tax exceeded that amount. The indictment further alleges that Scheltema attempted to evade paying tax on his taxable income of $598,291 for the calendar year 2013 by failing to file a timely income tax return and later filing a false tax return.

The arraignment is scheduled for September 28.  The case resulted from an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg is prosecuting the case.

Comments

Comments are closed.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News