Fort Collins dentist charged with tax evasion, accused of concealing $3.5 million in income

A Fort Collins dentist accused of tax evasion has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

The indictment filed Aug. 21 alleges the man concealed more than $3.5 million in income from the Internal Revenue Service since 2017 using an illegal tax shelter he purchased in 2016 for $50,000, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice . Authorities say his actions have cost the IRS more than $1 million in lost taxes.

The defendant, Ryan Ulibarri, has owned and operated Ulibarri Family Dentistry in Fort Collins since 2014, according to the news release. Ulibarri faces six counts of federal tax evasion. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count.

Ulibarri is accused of creating sham trusts, also called an “abusive-trust tax shelter,” to “fraudulently conceal substantial amounts of income from the IRS and avoid paying taxes on that income,” according to the indictment . Authorities say he created four different fraudulent trusts that he funneled his income through.

The indictment claims Ulibarri created these sham trusts “to conceal income he earned from Ulibarri Family Dentistry from the IRS.” Ulibarri allegedly assigned nearly all his income generated through his dentistry practice to one of the trusts, then funneled the money through the other three trusts.

These trusts “were sham entities devoid of economic substance and served no legitimate business purpose,” according to the indictment.

Ulibarri is also accused of restructuring his dental practice "so that the majority of it was purportedly owned by one of the trusts," according to the news release.

Court documents in Ulibarri's case say he purchased the sham trusts from a group of six others who have been federally indicted for selling these fraudulent tax shelters nationwide. Four of those individuals are also charged with false income tax returns for clients who purchased and used the sham trusts, which allegedly includes Ulibarri, per those documents.

A grand jury issues an indictment when they determine there is probable cause to believe the individual has committed a crime and the case should continue to a trial, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Grand juries are made up of 23 members, and a majority of those members must agree before an indictment is issued. An indictment is not a conviction.

Ulibarri's attorney has not responded to a request for comment as of Thursday morning.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in court. Arrests and charges are merely accusations by law enforcement until, and unless, a suspect is convicted of a crime.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins dentist charged with tax evasion, accused of concealing $3.5 million in income