Connecticut fisherman sentenced to prison for evading taxes on more than $1.4 million in income

Date: Oct. 18, 2024

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BOSTON - A Connecticut man was sentenced on Oct. 16, 2024, for evading taxes on income he earned from commercial fishing in Massachusetts.

Brian Kobus of Durham, Conn., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to one year and one day in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. Kobus was also ordered to pay restitution to the United States of $377,839. In July 2024, Kobus pleaded guilty to two counts of tax evasion.

Kobus worked as a commercial fisherman and deckhand for various fishing companies in Massachusetts for over 30 years, earning over $1.4 million in taxable income between 2011 and 2013 and between 2017 and 2021. The companies paid Kobus by check after each fishing trip and provided Kobus with IRS forms which detailed his earnings and made clear that no taxes had been withheld. Despite this, Kobus never filed a federal income tax return or paid the taxes he owed on this income. Kobus intentionally concealed his income by immediately cashing each paycheck and paying for all of his personal expenses in cash. In total, Kobus caused a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $377,839.90.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division; and Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) in Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Wild of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit and Trial Attorney Matthew L. Cofer of the Justice Department's Tax Division prosecuted the case.

IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.