Saratoga woman sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for tax evasion

A Saratoga woman was sentenced Monday to 30 months in federal prison for tax evasion.

Liping Liu also was ordered to pay $744,248 in restitution as well as a $25,000 fine.

Liu was the receptionist and office manager for her spouse’s dental practice. Federal prosecutors say she skimmed money from various sources – including rental properties and the dental practice – and funneled it into various bank accounts to prevent that money from appearing in business bank accounts.

The only funds deposited into the business bank accounts were insurance payments, aside from thirteen personal checks in 2006 and one personal check in 2009.

Liu also offered a 10 percent discount to dental clients if they paid in cash or by check, as long as they left the payee section on the check blank. In her plea agreement, she admitted to providing incomplete and false information to the family bookkeeper, and engaging in a series of structured cash transactions from September 2008 to September 2009.

Liu, 56, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion in March. After serving her prison time, she will be on supervised release for three years.