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The following press release was received from the U.S.Attorney's Office today. It tells of the indictment of President Anthony Bruno of Illinois Development Services Corporation for "filing a false corporate income tax return for allegedly under-reporting income." The firm was formally known as Gray & Associates

WEST SUBURBAN BUSINESSMAN CHARGED
WITH FILING FALSE
FEDERAL CORPORATE INCOME TAX RETURN

CHICAGO – The president of a west suburban governmental relations and economic development firm was charged with filing a false federal corporate income tax return for allegedly under-reporting his firm’s taxable income.

The defendant, Anthony B. Bruno, 56, of suburban Chicago, was charged in a single-count criminal information filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Alvin Patton, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago, announced today.

Bruno is president of Illinois Development Services Corporation, Inc., of Elmhurst and formerly of Melrose Park, which provides consulting services to public entities in the Chicago area. Prior to 2003, the firm was known as Gray & Associates.

Bruno will be ordered to appear for arraignment at a later date in U.S. District Court.

According to the charges, the Government obtained a judgment against Bruno in a 2000 civil lawsuit in Federal Court relating to federal taxes owed to the United States. Gray & Associates regularly made loan payments to unnamed Individual A in return for Individual A satisfying a portion of the judgment entered against Bruno.

The charges allege that on July 31, 2006, Bruno filed a federal corporate income tax return for Gray & Associates for calendar year 2001 which stated that Gray & Associates’ taxable income was negative $101,239, knowing that the firm’s taxable income was in excess of that amount. Bruno allegedly improperly deducted from the firm’s total income a claimed judgment in the amount of $186,485, knowing that the firm did not incur any such judgment and was not entitled to deduct the claimed judgment. He also claimed business expenses in the amount of $5,502, knowing that the firm did not incur any such expenses, the charges allege.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Drury.

If convicted, filing a false federal income tax return carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition, defendants convicted of tax offenses face mandatory costs of prosecution and remain liable for any taxes, penalties and interest owed. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an information contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Labels: Anthony Bruno, Gray and Associates, Illinois Service Development Corporation