A Miami escort service owner who operated EliteEscortService.com pleaded guilty Thursday to filing a false tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg for the Southern District of Florida.
According to court documents, Dennis Zarudny, 40, filed a false individual income tax return for 2012 that underreported his total income from his escort business, Denzar Inc., which did business as “Elite Escort Service” and “Elite Miami Escorts” in the Miami area. Zarudny’s escort service was marketed on the internet as a “prestigious escort agency providing 24 hour outcall escort services & adult entertainment for upscale gentlemen and couples in South Florida.”
For tax years 2011 through 2014, Zarudny filed false corporate and personal income tax returns with the IRS, which substantially underreported his business’ income. Zarudny allowed his customers to pay for the escorts’ services by cash, check, and credit card. Zarudny reported income from credit card transactions, but did not fully report the income he received from customers who paid in cash and check.
Zarudny was indicted for tax fraud in 2017.
U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez scheduled sentencing for June 11. Zarudny faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison, as well as a period of supervised release, monetary penalties, and restitution.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Greenberg commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who investigated the EliteEscortService.com case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein and Tax Division Trial Attorney Grace Albinson, who are prosecuting this case.
