Embattled businessman Ramon DeSage, charged with tax evasion, owes IRS $31 million

High-rolling Las Vegas businessman Ramon DeSage, indicted earlier this year in a scheme to defraud investors of roughly $190 million, was charged with tax evasion in a new federal indictment Tuesday.

The superseding indictment charges DeSage, who is well-known on the Las Vegas Strip, with failing to report to the Internal Revenue Service more than $87 million in income from 2006 to 2009.

That comes out to roughly $31 million in owed taxes over the four years, according to the indictment.

DeSage, 63, who supplies luxury gifts to the casino industry, was first indicted in January on four counts of wire fraud.

The new indictment adds four counts of tax evasion. DeSage is accused of under-reporting his income by $19.2 million in 2006, $27.7 million in 2007, $30.6 million in 2008 and $9.7 million in 2009.

He was summoned to make a court appearance on the new charges on Aug. 15 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen.

His lawyer, Richard Wright, could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors plan to seek a $191 million forfeiture judgment against DeSage if he is convicted of the wire fraud charges.

DeSage, also known as Ramon Abi-Rached, used $175 million in the massive fraud scheme “for gambling purposes,” the indictment said.

DeSage, who is under electronically monitored home detention, is accused of using his main Las Vegas company, Cadeau Express, and other companies to defraud his investors between 2005 and 2012.

He pocketed the money to repay earlier investors, maintain his wealthy lifestyle and cover millions of dollars in gambling losses at casinos along the Strip, some of which he supplies with high-end customer goods, according to the indictment.

On the Cadeau Express website, DeSage calls himself an international humanitarian and philanthropist who has rubbed elbows with world leaders, including presidents and presidential candidates in the United States.

DeSage said he was born into a “prestigious family” in Lebanon, was educated in France and once worked as an attaché for UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Cadeau Express is described on the website as a “unique company that caters to hotels and casinos who roll out the red carpet for selective guests and high-end gamblers.”

Last year, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Damm said in court that DeSage owned a 40,000-square-foot palace in Lebanon and more than $10 million in real estate holdings.

Following a two-day trial in February, a federal jury convicted a Las Vegas woman of lying to IRS agents investigating DeSage.

Tara Mazzeo, 36, who described DeSage as a generous mentor and friend, was found guilty of lying to agents in July 2011 about her financial ties to her boss.

She was charged with lying about receiving $497,000 from DeSage between September and November 2009 to help her buy a house and a luxury car. She also was charged with not telling the truth about the transfer of $350,000 to her business bank account to help pay for the house.

Mazzeo will be sentenced before U.S. District Judge James Mahan on Sept. 5.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.