By: Yuritza Arroyo
Federal authorities in Monmouth County man was arrested today for tax evasion.
According to officials, Raymond J. Salani Jr., 67, of Morganville, is charged by an indictment unsealed today with two counts of tax evasion.
Officials say he appeared this afternoon for an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni in Trenton federal court and was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Salani was the president and owner of Medical Nutrition Inc., located in West Long Branch, which purportedly provided management services to Lifestyles Medical LLC, a medical practice controlled by Salani and located in the same office as Medical Nutrition.
Court documents state, Salani, who was not a licensed physician, was prohibited under New Jersey law from owning a medical practice and employing licensed healthcare professionals.
To conceal his ownership and control of Lifestyles Medical, Salani employed a licensed physician to work at Lifestyles Medical on a part-time basis and act as the nominee owner of Lifestyles Medical.
According to authorities, however, at all relevant times, Salani acted as the true owner of Lifestyles Medical, managed the day-to-day operations of Lifestyles Medical, and exercised control over the financial accounts of both Lifestyles Medical and Medical Nutrition.
Authorities say between January 2016 and May 2017, Salani attempted to conceal his income from the IRS and evade the assessment of federal income taxes by transferring income earned by Lifestyles Medical into the business bank account for Medical Nutrition, purportedly as payments to Medical Nutrition for management services rendered to Lifestyles Medical.
From there, Salani used the funds from Medical Nutrition’s business bank account to pay for personal expenses, including mortgage payments on his residence, payments to pay down balances on a personal credit card account in his spouse’s name, and payments for a personal vehicle leased by Salani.
Federal law required Salani to report the income he received from Medical Nutrition to the IRS on his personal income tax returns for tax years 2016 and 2017.
Officials say Salani failed to file a personal income tax return for the tax year 2016 and failed to report any of the income he received through Medical Nutrition on his personal income tax return for the tax year 2017.
Salani failed to report $232,739 of taxable income that he received through Medical Nutrition in 2016 and 2017, resulting in the evasion of $87,635 in tax due and owing.
Each count of tax evasion carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
