Three Convicted of 'Massive Tax Fraud'

LAS VEGAS (CN) – A Las Vegas jury this week convicted a former NFL punter, a former casino owner from Nevada and a Las Vegas businessman of a “massive tax fraud scheme,” federal prosecutors said.     Convicted were Alan Rodrigues, a former casino owner from Henderson, Nev.; Weston Coolidge, a Las Vegas businessman; and Joseph Prokop, a former NFL punter from Upland, Calif.     All three were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the IRS and four counts of mail fraud. Rodrigues and Coolidge also were convicted for 15 counts of aiding preparation of false tax returns, and Prokop of 13 counts of aiding preparation of false tax returns, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.     They ran the scheme through their National Audit Defense Network, which was run by Rodrigues and Coolidge. Prokop ran a company called Oryan Management and Financial Services, in Upland, which “created the fraudulent tax product, called Tax Break 2000, and paid NADN a commission to sell Tax Break 2000,” prosecutors said in the statement.     “According to evidence presented at trial, the intended tax loss based on the purported tax benefits was approximately $100 million due to the scheme,” prosecutors said.     The men were convicted after a 6-seek trial.