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Rick Tariq Rahim, 55, of Great Falls, began taking steps to evade the IRS' efforts to collect more than $1 million in federal income taxes he owed between 2004 and 2011, beginning in at least 2012, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica D. Aber, said.
In November 2016, Rahim submitted a false form to the IRS that omitted valuable assets he owned, including a helicopter, a 2006 Bentley, a 2008 Lamborghini, and real property, the ownership of which he allegedly transferred to his wife two weeks after submitting the form, the indictment says.
Rahim also withdrew a total of more than $1.1 million in cash in amounts less than $10,000, to avoid triggering currency transaction reports from the bank and paid personal expenses from his businesses’ bank accounts, the indictment says. Those included more than $889,000 toward his mortgages and more than $669,000 to purchase or lease cars, including three different Lamborghinis.
From 2015 to 2021, Rahim also failed to pay the IRS the taxes that his businesses withheld from employee paychecks or file quarterly tax returns reporting those withholdings, the indictment alleges.
Rahim owned and operated two businesses: BV Management, LLC, an Amazon reseller, and BusinessVentures.com, LLC, which was an umbrella company over other businesses including laser tag facilities.
If convicted, Rahim faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the tax evasion count and five years in prison for each count of failing to pay over employment tax withholdings. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Shartar and Trial Attorney William Montague of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.
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