Closing arguments are expected to begin Monday in the tax fraud trial of former Hialeah mayor Julio Robaina.
Robaina and his wife, Raiza Robaina, are charged with conspiring to evade their taxes, creating false returns and lying to federal agents. Prosecutors say Robaina failed to disclose on tax returns about $2 million in income between 2005 and 2010. Some of that allegedly was cash payments on high-interest personal loans they made to friends and associates, including a convicted Ponzi schemer.
Julio Robaina did not testify in his own defense, but Raiza Robaina blamed many of the problems on mistakes made by the couple's accountant. She insisted they did not submit false or fraudulent tax returns.
A 10-page indictment released last year claims the couple, who own a loan company, made six-figure transactions between 2005-2007 but reported small five-figure losses. Over those two years, officials allege the Robainas' taxable personal income was falsely understated, while Mr. Robaina's business tax forms showed inflated losses.
The alleged incidents took place while Julio Robaina was earning a salary of more than $200,000 as mayor. Prosecutors say that when questioned in 2010 the couple lied to federal agents about Julio Robaina's involvement in his wife's lending business.
The allegations were uncovered after convicted Ponzi schemer and Robaina acquaintance Luis Felipe Perez helped investigators, his attorney said in a statement to NBC 6. The information provided by Perez linked Robaina to a loan operation that paid him off with interest in cash, the attorney said.
Robaina served as Hialeah's mayor from 2005-2011 before resigning to run for mayor of Miami-Dade, an election he lost to Carlos Gimenez.
