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An 11-count indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Newark alleges that Brian Mehling, 54, failed to collect, account for or deliver payroll taxes for:
- one quarter in 2014;
- three quarters in 2015;
- three quarters in 2016:
- two quarters in 2017;
- one quarter in 2018.
The indictment also charges him with failing to report a foreign bank account holding more than $10,000 for the 2018 calendar year, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Mehling – who has offices in Hackensack and on Long Island -- drew notoriety after the IRS announced five years ago that it had revoked the tax-exempt status of his Blue Horizon Foundation consulting group, which Mehling claims has “spearheaded groundbreaking research in stem cell therapy.”
News accounts cited “swanky fund-raising galas” and “celebrity-hosted documentaries for orphans” produced by the group, not to mention tax troubles for its globe-trotting founder.
At the time, federal authorities said Mehling failed to provide company tax returns for three straight years -- and personally owed the IRS $6 million.
Since 2006, Mehling “has been involved with the IRS Collection Division due to his failure to pay his quarterly employment taxes for Mehling Office Management,” a company that he created “in order to pay himself and other employees as part of his medical practice,” Carpenito said Thursday.
Instead, Mehling “chose to spend the majority of his money on other ventures, such as traveling around the world, on his personal rental properties and promoting his stem cell research company,” he said.
Carpenito credited special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation with assembling the case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Leah Gould of the U.S. attorney’s Criminal Division in Newark.
In his CV, Mehling says he has “traveled extensively throughout Asia and the Middle East observing firsthand the differences in healthcare standards.
“Identifying the need for a universal high quality standard, he founded Blue Horizon International,” intending to “assist in and finance the advancement of all aspects of stem cell therapies and cellular regenerative medicine and research,” the resume says.
Those seeking cutting-edge therapy when traditional medicine fails have turned to stem cell treatments, which cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Mehling and his colleagues “have successfully treated and monitored more than 600 patients using stem cell and regenerative therapies,” his self-written CV says. “Patients have been treated for a wide range of diseases and disorders including spinal cord injury and cerebral palsy.”
“Apart from his organizations, Dr. Mehling personally contributes his time and resources to charitable causes,” his resume says. “He has sponsored patients’ trips to China for stem cell treatments, as well as hosting charitable events from his own homes in New York, the Hamptons and France."
Mehling also produced a feature-length documentary, “Tiny Tears,” which he described as “a collection of testimonials from caregivers and volunteers in different countries, devoted to saving and helping children affected by AIDS.” It was shown at the Tribeca and Cannes film festivals, he said.
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