Indian American businessman sentenced for bribery and tax evasion

April 20, 2024 08:31

An Indian American businessman has been 'sentenced to 18 months' probation and 200 hours of community service for bribery and tax evasion, the department of justice said.

Arman Amirshahi, 46, was part of one of the several sophisticated and long-term bribery schemes helmed by co-conspirators Anthony Merritt, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, and Vincent Slater, former manager in the DC office of tax and revenue.

In furtherance of the schemes, four business ownersincluding Amirshahi, Charles Zhou, Andre De Moya, and Davoud Jafari paid cash bribes, through Merritt as a middleman, to Slater, to evade their business taxes.

A former employee of the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Merritt held himself out as a permit and licensing expediter and introduced the business owners to the scheme, an official release said on Friday.

For a cut of the bribe payments, Merritt handled communications with the business owners.

Merritt ferried their cash bribe payments to Slater and allowed Slater to maintain apparent distance from them as he fraudulently reduced their liabilities or intervened on their behalf within OTR. -- PTI

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