St. Joseph Accountant Charged With Tax Fraud

(KNSI) — A St. Joseph accountant is facing more than a dozen felony charges for allegedly cheating on his own taxes.

The Minnesota Department of Revenue says the Stearns County Attorney’s Office has charged
Mark Joseph Dorn with six felony counts of filing false or fraudulent individual income tax returns, one felony count of filing a false or fraudulent property tax refund return, and six felony counts of failing to pay income tax.

According to the criminal complaint, Dorn, a Certified Public Accountant, filed his own fraudulent returns by reporting less income than what was reported on the S-corp filings for his business, Dorn and Associates Ltd. He reported the correct and much higher S-corp income on tax returns he gave to a bank when applying for a line of credit. But, in multiple income tax filings that were all filed years late, Dorn allegedly wrote off false business losses from an investment property and false rental real estate losses. He also failed to claim income from two IRA distributions when required to do so.

When investigators asked Dorn why he didn’t file his returns on time, he allegedly told them he had three years to file because he makes it so he doesn’t owe any taxes. He also claimed he files approximately 1,500 tax returns per year.

Dorn allegedly owes more than $45,000 in Minnesota income tax for tax years 2017 and 2019 through 2023.

Each felony charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.

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