February 9, 2012
A federal judge has sentenced Dr. Ellen Meredith Stubenhaus to serve five years in prison for her part in a tax fraud conspiracy. Dr. Stubenhaus worked as a salesperson for Pinnacle Quest International (PQI), a multi-level marketing organization that provided a marketplace for various vendors. From 2002 to 2008, PQI had more than 11,000 members across the United States.
Dr. Stubenhaus had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. In addition to her prison sentence, Dr. Stubenhaus must serve three years of supervised release and pay the Internal Revenue Service restitution of $373,549.
According to the Justice Department, Ms. Stubenhaus acknowledged that a number of PQI vendors marketed strategies for customers to evade their legitimate taxes. Using schemes provided by these vendors, Dr. Studenhaus concealed her own PQI income from the IRS and helped PQI executives hide PQI’s income as well. Some of these fraudulent PQI vendors also are serving time in prison.
Waters & Kraus is a national firm with highly skilled lawyers practicing qui tam litigation in four offices, including Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Baltimore. Our attorneys have decades of experience successfully representing whistleblowers in a variety of fraud cases. Contact us or call our attorneys at 800.226.9880 to learn more about our practice and how we can assist.
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