ROCHESTER – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Steven Rosenbaum, 57, of Webster, NY, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to filing a false tax return, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Resnick, who is handling the case, stated that Rosenbaum owns 50% of Swoop1, Inc., a security business that provides security personnel to various high schools, colleges, businesses, and performing arts venues in the greater Rochester area.
For the years 2016 through 2021, Rosenbaum and his Swoop1 co-owner, identified as A.L., failed to report on Swoop1’s corporate income tax returns gross receipts totaling $5,598,354. Rather than deposit hundreds of checks received from clients into their business bank account, the defendant and A.L. cashed the checks at a local check cashing business. From the money received from the checks cashed, Rosenbaum and A.L. paid fees to the check cashing business totaling $112,619, and paid hundreds of Swoop1’s employees some of or all their wages in cash. The remaining amount of the money received from the checks cashed, $2,550,787, was split by Rosenbaum and A.L. this resulted in Rosenbaum failing to report $1,390,315 in income and failing to pay $355,225 in taxes to the IRS. In addition, Rosenbaum and A.L. failed to pay payroll taxes on the $2,675,467 in cash that was paid to the employees of Swoop1, resulting in a loss to the IRS of $204,673.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Thomas Fattorusso, Special Agent-in-Charge.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 20, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. before Judge Wolford.
