Grosse Pointe Park man who didn't report millions in drug money to IRS gets prison time
GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Grosse Pointe Park man who made millions of dollars selling drugs is headed to prison after he didn't report the income to the Internal Revenue Service and then lied to the IRS about the funds.
According to the Department of Justice, Matthew D. Adams sold drugs to a person identified as Individual A between 2008 and 2017. Individual A used stolen funds from their company to pay for the drugs, and these payments were made to look like they were from Individual A's company to Adams's company, MDA Property Services, for legitimate services.
The DOJ said that from 2013 through 2017, Adams was paid more than $10 million by checks from Company A.
He used $1 million to buy real estate, according to the DOJ. He also spent more than $1.25 million on personal expenses such as private flights, golfing, jewelry, gambling, court-ordered child support, hotels and a firearm. Adams also purchases numerous vehicles, including a Cadillac Escalade, a Hummer and classic cars.
Adams did not report the drug money on his 2013 to 2016 income tax returns and failed to file a 2017 income tax return, the DOJ said.
He deposited some of the checks into his personal and business bank accounts, and cashed the remainder, totaling approximately $5.3 million, at a local liquor store. Adams told his tax preparer about the deposits in one of the bank accounts, so the preparer filed returns that did not report all of his income from his drug sales.
In 2017, Adams and his company were audited. During the audit, The DOJ said he lied to the IRS revenue agent multiple times, including by telling the agent that 90% of the money MDA Property Services was paid by Company A was for legitimate work, when the true figure was 3%.
Adams was sentenced to three years in prison for money laundering and obstructing the IRS. He also must pay $3,354,973 in restitution to the IRS.