Prosecutors allege lawyer accumulated $800K in cash, structured bank deposits to avoid IRS reports
Federal prosecutors allege a New Jersey lawyer accumulated $800,000 in cash and structured bank deposits to avoid bank reporting requirements for deposits above $10,000.
Jersey City lawyer Magdy Fouad Anise, who is also known as Michael Anise, was charged in an indictment (PDF) with one count of structuring cash transactions to avoid IRS reporting requirements and one count of structuring more than $100,000, according to a press release, APP.com and NJ.com.
Prosecutors allege doctors paid Anise cash kickbacks in exchange for personal-injury client referrals, and that accounted for part of the $800,000 he accumulated. Anise allegedly told one doctor to pay him with gold bars, with donations to his church, and by making payments on his mortgage, the indictment says.
The New Jersey courts website says Anise is on “disability inactive” status. A call to a phone number listed for Anise reached a law firm where he no longer works.
