A federal grand jury in Birmingham, Alabama, returned an indictment Wednesday charging a Shelby County chiropractor with tax evasion, filing false tax returns and obstructing the IRS.
According to the indictment, Gary Forrest Edwards, of Shelby County, was a chiropractor and owned Hoover Health & Wellness Center.
In 2015, Edwards allegedly agreed to file missing income tax returns for 2009 through 2013 with the IRS. The indictment further alleges that Edwards — despite filing the returns as agreed and accurately reporting millions of dollars in income — did not pay any of the $2.4 million in taxes he reported he owed.
When the IRS began trying to collect the unpaid taxes in 2015, and continuing until 2023, Edwards allegedly tried to impede the IRS’ collection efforts by transferring assets to his wife, submitting false information to the IRS about his assets, filing false tax returns and making false statements to IRS investigators. He also allegedly filed documents with a local court falsely claiming that Notices of Federal Tax Lien filed against him by the IRS him had been terminated.
If convicted, Edwards faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the tax evasion charge and three years in prison for the obstruction charge and each charge of filing a false tax return. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
