Colorado Dentist Charged with Six Counts of Tax Evasion for Alleged Use of Illegal Tax Shelter
A Colorado dentist has been charged with six counts of tax evasion, following an indictment unsealed Friday by a Denver grand jury. The charges against Ryan Ulibarri, who owns and operates Ulibarri Family Dentistry in Fort Collins, stem from his use of an illegal tax shelter to hide more than $3.5 million in income from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
According to the indictment, Ulibarri purchased a tax shelter in 2016 for $50,000 and subsequently used it from 2017 to 2022 to hide a large portion of the income he earned from his dental practice. The shelter is said to have been created through the establishment of three trusts and a private foundation, where Ulibarri signed trust instruments and opened bank accounts in their names.
The lawsuit also says that Ulibarri reorganized his dental practice so that most of it is called one of the trusts. He is accused of transferring almost all the money he received from his dental practice to these trust and foundation bank accounts. These funds were then used to pay personal expenses, including his house and credit card bills.
In addition to hiding his income, Ulibarri is accused of filing false taxes for himself and the trusts, improperly allocating the income he controlled and received from his activities to the trusts. The alleged scheme caused tax losses to the IRS of more than $1 million.
If convicted, Ulibarri faces a maximum sentence of five years for each count of tax evasion. The final sentence will be decided by a district court judge, who will consider the US Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors before making a decision.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division announced the charges. The investigation is being conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation, and the case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Amanda R. Scott and Lauren K. Pope, and Senior Trial Counsel Corey J. Smith of the Tax Division.
