Peoria, IL Alaa Iwaisi of Peoria, Ill., was sentenced on July 20, 2021, to 36 months in federal prison for filing false federal personal tax returns, aiding in the filing of false federal corporate returns, and mail fraud for mailing false small business corporation tax returns to the State of Illinois for tax years 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Iwaisi, who formerly owned and operated the MacArthur Corner Store Food & More in Peoria, pleaded guilty on March 3, 2021, to the nine-count indictment charging him with underreporting sales from the store on both federal and state returns. At Iwaisi s sentencing hearing, Senior U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm found that even though Iwaisi had actual receipts reflecting the store s sales, he provided false information about the sales to his return preparer. The judge also found that Iwaisi often paid employees and himself with cash straight from the cash register, despite being advised by the return preparer to issue company paychecks.