The Police Log is a digest of reports filed by the Cranston Police and other law enforcement agencies.

OBSTRUCTION CHARGE

A federal jury has convicted a Cranston man of one count of trying to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), another count of tax evasion, and two counts of assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, according to a recent press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

John Fall was taken into custody after the verdict. He faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison and a $1 million fine at his sentencing on April 28.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Fall bought, sold and brokered real estate and participated in handling the financial affairs of his wife and her businesses, including Comfort Dental Inc. and Broad Street Investments. Between 1999 and 2010, Fall is said to have used numerous entities and business names to conceal his transactions, and used multiple bank accounts, including commingled or “warehouse” bank accounts, in at least six states and used aliases to conceal his ownership.

Fall is said to have filed false federal income tax returns for 1998 and 1999, and failed to file any tax returns for the years 2000 through 2010. The IRS assessed taxes of approximately $72,000. 

Additionally, evidence is said to have shown Fall caused the filing of false tax returns on behalf of Comfort Dental from 2005 to 2007, and to have caused his wife’s businesses to make payments to his various entities that were falsely recorded as deductible business expenses on corporate tax returns. Fall is said to have attempted to obstruct a 2008 audit of his wife and Comfort Dental by encouraging his wife not to provide information the IRS requested through a summons, and to instead provide fraudulent information and documentation concerning the payments to his entities. He is additionally said to have attempted to obstruct his wife’s compliance with an IRS summons.

The case was investigated by special agents with the IRS Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief John Kane and Trial Attorney Jeffrey Bender with the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

DUI AND REFUSAL

Cranston police reported the arrest of a Cranston woman for DUI and refusal after hitting a Cranston police cruiser on Jan. 31.

According to police, an officer was on routine patrol on Crescent Avenue when he saw a vehicle coming towards him from the opposite direction. He said that the operator crossed the centerline twice as it approached him and he slowed his cruiser and moved to the side of the road, but the vehicle came across the centerline and collided head-on with his cruiser.

Police said the operator, Amy E. Drumm, 33, of 62 Crescent Ave., was given a series a field sobriety tests, which she failed. She refused to submit to a chemical test, and was released to appear in Third District Court in Warwick on Feb. 12.

The officer was treated for minor injuries. Drumm was not injured.

It was the third Cranston police cruiser struck by an alleged drunk driver over the past few months. The public is reminded to call 9-1-1 to report impaired operators.