A tax professional from suburban Chicago has been sentenced to over ten years in federal prison for defrauding clients and investors of more than $2.5 million. Adam R. Oliva, aged 43, from Rolling Meadows, Illinois, admitted guilt last year in two separate federal fraud cases.
Oliva received a six-year sentence in December for one case and an additional four-and-a-half-year sentence on Wednesday for the second case. The sentences are to be served consecutively, totaling ten and a half years of incarceration.
In one scheme, Oliva presented himself as a tax professional operating under various business names such as Oliva and Associates LLC and The Oliva Group LLC. Between 2015 and 2020, he convinced clients to give him money supposedly to pay their income taxes but kept the funds for personal use. He also filed false tax returns for some clients to avoid IRS scrutiny regarding unpaid taxes.
In another fraudulent operation, Oliva misled investors into providing funds intended for short-term loans to clients with promises of 10-20% returns. However, he never planned to issue any loans and instead used the investment money for personal expenses like gambling and dining out.
The sentencing was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office; and Vincent R. Zehme, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Region of the FDIC’s Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick D. Young represented the government in this case.