A former Internal Revenue Service official pleaded guilty on Tuesday to failing to file federal income tax returns, owing more than $789,000 for six years of unpaid taxes, U.S. government authorities said.
They said John Venuti, 62, of Harwood, Maryland, a tax consultant and principal at the KPMG accounting firm from 2002 until January, entered his guilty plea in federal court in Baltimore.
He formerly worked for the U.S. tax-collecting agency, the IRS, from 1974 to 1983, including three years as chief of the tax treaty and technical services division.
For the tax years 2001 to 2006, Venuti's total gross income was $3,625,133, authorities said.
Although Venuti filed and received six-month extensions to file his federal tax return for each of these years and made payments along totaling $97,060, he did not file the tax returns.
Venuti filed his federal return for the 2007 tax year.
In November of 2007, the IRS contacted Venuti about his failure to file his federal taxes for the previous years and he learned in May 2008 that he was under criminal investigation.
In July 2008, Venuti submitted tax returns for the earlier tax years.
Venuti faces up to three years in prison at his sentencing scheduled on Nov. 2 before a federal judge in Baltimore, according to prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office.
