Source: Office of United States Attorneys
LOS ANGELES – A Riverside County man has agreed to plead guilty to filing false income tax returns after selling Stan Lee-signed memorabilia and receiving more than $1.2 million in proceeds which he never reported to the IRS, the Justice Department announced today.
Mac Martin Anderson, 59, of Corona, has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of willfully subscribing to a false tax return, a felony that carries a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison for each charge.
According to his plea agreement, from 2015 to 2018, Anderson had a personal relationship with Marvel Comics publisher Stan Lee and sold Marvel-related items bearing Lee’s autograph to various dealers, brokers and fans at comic conventions.
In exchange for selling these memorabilia, Anderson received payments from buyers, typically in the form of cash or checks. These payments were considered regular income by the IRS and should have been reported on Anderson’s income tax return each year that he received money.
For tax years 2015 through 2018, income from the sold memorabilia totaled $289,460, $452,269, $414,166, and $80,590, respectively. In total, Anderson admitted to profiting approximately $1,236,485 in reportable income from the memorabilia sales which resulted in him owing the IRS approximately $482,833.
As part of his plea agreement, Anderson agreed to pay restitution to the IRS of approximately $482,833.
The IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Mark Aveis of the Major Frauds Section and Sarah E. Spielberger of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section prosecuted this case.