Five people, including four Utah family members associated with a polygamous clan, were sentenced to federal prison last week for a billion-dollar tax fraud scheme associated with their biofuel company, according to a statement released April 7.
Prison sentences ranged between six and 40 years.
Testimony in the 2020 trial for Lev Aslan Dermen, a Los Angeles businessman, and court documents in the case support that Dermen conspired with Jacob and Sally Kingston, Isaiah Kingston and Rachel Kingston as the Utah family's company fraudulently claimed over $1 billion from "refundable renewable fuel tax credits."
Washakie Renewable Energy, the company owned by brothers Jacob and Isaiah Kingston, received over $511 million in credits from the IRS — which was distributed between Dermen, the brothers, their mother and Jacob Kingston's wife.
The Kingstons are members of the Davis County Cooperative Society, or the Kingston Order, which practices polygamy.
Albert Childress, an agent with the IRS based in Arizona, said this is "one of the most egregious examples of tax fraud in U.S. history." He said the five individuals went to great lengths to hide proceeds from their fraud.
"The government has made a statement that there will be severe consequences for fraud. Despite your efforts to launder your money, or any attempts to cover your crimes, there is always a trail which our financial investigators can follow, and justice will be done," he said.
The U.S. Department of...
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