A former west suburban homebuilder was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Monday for failing to pay $1.27 million in taxes and concealing some of his business interests as he went through bankruptcy.
Dennis Weiss, 64, owned two St. Charles-based companies: Custom Homes by D.R, Weiss, Inc. and Reliable Home Solutions, Inc., according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Prosecutors claimed he filed false individual federal income tax returns between 2005 and 2009, and that he did not file any corporate tax returns for either company during that time.
In those five years, Weiss paid personal expenses from a business bank account, and accepted cash payments from customers that he failed to record in the companies’ books, prosecutors claim. The scheme resulted in a loss of $1.27 million in taxes to the federal government.
Weiss intentionally concealed the existence of another business, Melrose Currency Exchange, Inc., in his personal bankruptcy petition and failed to disclose his interest in other joint ventures in three other family-held entities.
Weiss, of South Elgin, pleaded guilty last year to one count each of filing a false federal income tax return and making false statements in a bankruptcy petition.
He was sentenced to 30 months in prison at a hearing Monday before U.S. District Judge John Z. Lee, and ordered to pay more than $296,000 in restitution to the IRS, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
