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A California accountant who provided tax planning services for retired car dealer James Pflueger has pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and assisting in preparing a false income tax return.
Dennis Duban, a certified public accountant who ran an accounting firm in Los Angeles, could get up to five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and up to three years for the false-return charge, according to U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni.
Duban’s sentencing is scheduled for April 18 before U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi.
Duban and Pflueger were among five indicted by a federal grand jury in 2010 on tax charges.
Duban joins three others, including Pflueger’s son, Charles Alan Pflueger, who pleaded guilty, leaving James Pflueger the only defendant scheduled for February.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Duban also provided tax planning services for Pflueger’s son, Pflueger Inc. and Pflueger Properties.
Duban illegally deducted personal expenses from corporate income tax returns, prepared tax returns that did not fully report income and agreed to file a false return in connection with the 2007 sale of California investment property owned by Pflueger properties, the office said.
James Pflueger also faces manslaughter charges in Kauai Circuit Court in connection with the deaths of seven people swept away when the Ka Loko dam breached on Kauai in 2006. The manslaughter trial has been postponed until next year at the earliest.