Multiple outlets are reporting that on October 15, 2013, William Reed, a Nevada businessman, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, tax evasion, and aggravated identity theft. Reed was listed as the corporate officer for more than 1,000 companies purportedly headquartered in a lone Las Vegas office suite. Nevada Senior U.S. District Judge Philip Pro imposed the sentence Tuesday. Pro also ordered Reed, 63, to pay nearly $4.2 million in restitution as part of the sentence. Reed and his company, Asset Protection Group, typically formed new Nevada corporations for the clients that listed him, not their true owners, as the sole officer. The procedure took advantage of laws in Nevada and other states that often do not require the actual owners of corporations to be disclosed. According to the media reports, this arrangement allowed Reed's customers to use the corporations to hide their assets or income from the IRS.
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