A Colorado dentist has been indicted on six counts of tax evasion, a federal grand jury in Denver revealed on Friday. The charges against Ryan Ulibarri, owner of Ulibarri Family Dentistry in Fort Collins, are related to his alleged use of an illegal tax shelter to hide over $3.5 million in income from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The indictment states that Ulibarri acquired the tax shelter in 2016 for $50,000, using it from 2017 to 2022 to conceal a significant portion of his dental practice earnings. The shelter was reportedly structured through the establishment of three trusts and a private foundation, which Ulibarri managed through signed trust documents and banking arrangements.
Further allegations suggest that Ulibarri reconfigured his dental practice so that most of it appeared to be owned by one of the trusts. He allegedly redirected nearly all income earned from his practice into the bank accounts of these trusts and the foundation, using those funds for personal expenses, including mortgage payments and credit card obligations.
Moreover, Ulibarri is accused of filing fraudulent tax returns, improperly assigning income generated from his practice to the trusts. This alleged operation led to a tax loss exceeding $1 million for the IRS.
Should he be found guilty, Ulibarri could face up to five years in prison for each charge of tax evasion. The ultimate sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge, considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and relevant statutory factors.
The charges were announced by the Justice Department’s Tax Division. An investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation is ongoing, and the case is being pursued by Trial Attorneys and Senior Litigation Counsel from the Tax Division.
