Mississippi Man Pleads Guilty to Evading $2M in Taxes
A Mississippi man admitted evading over $2 million in federal income taxes through repeated cashier’s check schemes and nominee accounts, pleading guilty to tax evasion.
Eric Brian Rosenberg of Mississippi pleaded guilty to evading more than $2 million in federal income taxes by concealing funds through a method known as 'check churning' between 2016 and 2020. Prosecutors allege he repeatedly withdrew most of his checking account funds by purchasing cashier’s checks, holding them until cash was needed, and then redepositing them to withdraw funds while avoiding IRS collection efforts. Rosenberg also formed a company and used a nominee bank account to further obscure his financial transactions and tax liabilities. The IRS had been attempting to collect the unpaid taxes before Rosenberg took these actions, according to court documents.
During the same period, Rosenberg spent over $1 million gambling at casinos, according to the charges. His guilty plea to one count of tax evasion was entered in federal court, with sentencing scheduled for December 16. Rosenberg faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, though the actual sentence will be determined by a federal judge based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors. The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by attorneys from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger for the Southern District of Mississippi. The case reflects the department’s broader focus on fraud enforcement, including the creation of the Fraud Division in April to investigate and prosecute fraud against the public. This effort aligns with the Trump administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, which targets fraud, waste, and abuse in federal benefit programs.
The announcement coincided with additional fraud-related charges in other cases. A federal grand jury in Alabama indicted an Alabama man for preparing false tax returns, while an Ohio man pleaded guilty to laundering $3.4 million in health care fraud proceeds. Separately, a Texas man pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the IRS by selling a fraudulent tax shelter. These cases underscore the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to combat tax evasion and financial fraud across multiple jurisdictions.