Las Vegas bankruptcy lawyer faces tax charges

High-profile Las Vegas bankruptcy attorney Randolph Goldberg was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on tax evasion charges.

Goldberg, 48, who regularly advertises on television, faces four counts of tax evasion over a four-year period and five counts of structuring financial transactions to avoid paying taxes.

The government also is seeking to recover more than $1.1 million.

The 18-page indictment alleges that Goldberg filed false tax returns from 2005 to 2008. He used two separate Bank of America accounts to deposit the legal fees he received from his clients but only reported the income deposited into one of the accounts to the Internal Revenue Service, the indictment alleges.

Between January and December 2008, according to the indictment, Goldberg structured 147 cash deposits into five Bank of America accounts totaling more than $1.1 million to evade taxes.

A warrant was issued for Goldberg's arrest. His defense lawyer, David Chesnoff, said Wednesday that he was arranging for Goldberg to surrender to answer the charges in court.

"He's anxious to be there to vigorously defend this case," Chesnoff said. "He looks forward to a jury, not the government, judging him."

The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation in Las Vegas.

Goldberg, who was chastised by a federal bankruptcy judge in 2010 for violating professional standards, also is the subject of disciplinary proceedings at the State Bar of Nevada over what is alleged to be misconduct in several bankruptcy cases.

Bar Counsel David Clark said a complaint filed against Goldberg in June 2011 is in the middle of the hearing process.

Goldberg said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in 2010 that he files about 200 cases a month. He estimated at the time that he had handled as many as 25,000 cases over a 13-year period.

In his television commercials soliciting bankruptcy business, Goldberg tells viewers, "I'll eliminate your problems and save your home. That's what I do."

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.