TAX NEWS - May 2009

Delaware tax: Dover Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Charge and Financial Exploitation of an Infirm Adult

(Wilmington, DE) – Patrick T. Carter, Director of Revenue, was recently notified that on January 28, 2009, a Dover man pleaded guilty in Superior Court for willfully failing to file a State of Delaware personal income tax return and for financial exploitation of an infirm adult.

Majid Sefiane, 45, pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Robert B. Young to one misdemeanor count of willfully failing to file a personal income tax return for the tax year 2007, as well as one felony count of financial exploitation.

Sefiane was originally charged in a three-count indictment in November 2008 for offenses arising from his financial exploitation of an elderly woman along with his failure to file state income tax returns.

An investigation conducted by the Delaware Division of Revenue's Criminal Investigation Unit revealed that during the years 2006 and 2007, Sefiane, a consultant and part-owner of a debt collection firm located in Dover, Delaware failed to file a state tax return and report his business income.

Additionally, investigators say that from November 2005 to April 2006, Sefiane also knowingly took possession of more than $168,000 belonging to an elderly victim and converted those funds to his own bank accounts. Sefiane abused his authority as the victim's caretaker in order to acquire the victim's funds for his own benefit.

As a result, Sefiane will be sentenced by Judge Young at a later date pending completion of a pre-sentence investigation report.

This case resulted from an investigation conducted by the Delaware Attorney General's Office and the Delaware Division of Revenue's Criminal Investigation Unit.