Filing false tax return leads to deportation charge.

AuthorBeavers, James A.

The Supreme Court held that filing a false tax return or aiding and abetting in the preparation of a false tax return are offenses that can subject permanent resident aliens to deportation as aliens who have been convicted of an aggravated felony.

Background

Akio and Fusako Kawashima are natives and citizens of Japan who have been lawful permanent residents of the United States since June 21, 1984. In 1997, Mr. Kawashima pleaded guilty to one count of willfully making and subscribing a false tax return (Sec. 7206(1)). Mrs. Kawashima pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return (Sec. 7206(2)).

Following their convictions, the Immigration and Naturalization Service charged the Kawashimas with being deportable from the United States as aliens who had been convicted under the Immigration and Nationality Act of an aggravated felony (8 U.S.C. $1227(a)(2)(A)(iii)). The categories of offenses that qualify as "aggravated felonies" for the purpose of deportation are found in 8 U.S.C. Section 1101(a)(43). The government charged the Kawashimas with being deportable for committing offenses under Section 1101(a)(43)(M), which classifies as an aggravated felony an offense that either: (1) involves fraud or deceit in which the loss to the victim or victims exceeds $10,000 (clause (i)); or (2) is described in Sec. 7201 ("Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax") in which the revenue loss to the government exceeds $10,000 (clause (ii)).

The Kawashimas argued at their deportation hearing that their Sec. 7206 convictions were not aggravated felonies under Section 1101(a)(43)(M), but the judge found that they were aggravated felonies under clause (i) and ordered the Kawashimas be removed. After losing their administrative appeal, the Kawashimas appealed their case to the Ninth Circuit.

The Ninth Circuit held that the crime for which Mr. Kawashima was convicted was an aggravated felony under clause (i) because it involved fraud and deceit and had resulted in a loss of more than $10,000 to the government. It likewise found that Mrs. Kawashima's crime involved fraud and deceit, but remanded her case to the Board of Immigration Appeals to determine the amount of loss because her plea agreement was not in the administrative record. The Kawashimas appealed the issue of whether their convictions for violating Sec. 7206 qualified under clause (i) as aggravated felonies to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.

The...

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