Medina man sentenced after creating fake religious organization in tax evasion scheme

A Medina man was sentenced Tuesday for a long-running scheme to evade tax assessments.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says 61-year-old Randal Scot Brinkman was sentenced to just under four years (46 months) in prison and three years of supervised release.

Brinkman owned and operated a Roseville-based construction company, the attorney's office said.

Federal jury finds Minnesota business owner guilty of tax evasion

From 1999-2018, the attorney's office said Brinkman used sham businesses, closed personal bank accounts, used money orders and cash to pay for expenses and created a fake religious organization to hide his income and evade tax assessments.

After an IRS audit in 2007, Brinkman filed personal income tax returns for 2002-2007 and admitted to owing more than $145,000 in federal taxes those years. Still, he never paid any of those owed taxes, and failed to file or pay any federal income taxes from 2012-2018, according to the attorney's office.