4 indicted on tax evasion

Four people have been charged in an 11-count indictment that alleges they devised a system to avoid reporting $30 million in stock sales to the IRS.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Lester Hemmert Mower, 49, Eva Jeanette Mower, 49, Adrian Angus Wilson, 48, and Nathan Whitney Drage, 50, all of Salt Lake City.

According to the indictment, the group conspired to hide the sale of more than $30 million in stock by using more than 20 bank accounts and 30 brokerage accounts to hide their participation in stock deals and their ownership in money from the stock sales. The alleged scheme happened over about a seven-year time span. According to prosecutors, the stock sales were made when the four were engaged in a merger and acquisition business.

The group is charged with conspiracy to impair and impede the IRS, tax evasion, and aiding and abetting.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of up to five years in federal prison and fines between $100,000 and $250,000.

— Geoffrey Fattah