ATLANTA – John Crittenden, a professor of environmental engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the former director of the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, has pleaded guilty to tax fraud for lying on his tax returns by overstating his charitable deductions.
“Charitable giving is a virtue. But Crittenden avoided paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes by lying about his charitable deductions to perpetrate a tax fraud scheme involving Chinese nationals,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “Because of his actions Crittenden will no longer be employed by the university and will also be required to pay all taxes owed.”
“Crittenden’s guilty plea is the result of the determination and hard work of federal investigators and prosecutors who aggressively pursue allegations of tax fraud,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is determined to root out and prosecute anyone who would try to undermine the tax return system.”
“No matter the scheme or amount, do not falsify your tax returns,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman. “We have an incredible team of talented, intelligent agents trained to investigate these tax fraud schemes. Crittenden not only has to make amends by paying his owed taxes, but he also faces jail time, fines, and penalties for his decisions. This guilty plea is evidence that fraud does not pay.”
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: John Crittenden’s academic research focused on scalable water treatment systems and technologies. Crittenden had deep ties to China, in part due to his position at Georgia Tech and his research.
While employed at Georgia Tech and living in the United States, Crittenden partnered with a Chinese national, Duo Li, to operate several companies in China, including Beijing Keruiduo Environmental, Beijing…
Read the full article here
