A federal judge has sentenced a former Maine resident to two years in prison for attempting to hide a million-dollar tax debt through a complex network of shell companies, family bank accounts, and cryptocurrency.
Paul Archer, 46, who now lives in Florida but formerly resided in Hampden and Orrington, appeared before U.S. District Judge Stacy D. Neumann yesterday. In addition to the 24-month prison term for tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud, Archer was ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
Federal court records show that Archer’s legal troubles stem from a profitable period between 2013 and 2015. During that time, he ran a successful online marketing business focused on software installation, generating millions in revenue. An IRS audit in 2016 determined he owed roughly $1 million in federal taxes.
Rather than paying the debt, prosecutors say Archer spent the following years moving his wealth out of the government’s reach.
From April 2018 through November 2019, Archer used two limited liability companies—Max Tune Up, LLC and Stealth Kit, LLC—along with accounts held by his wife and father to conceal his income. The Stealth Kit, LLC account was particularly active, with investigators finding it processed over $2 million in wire transfers and direct deposits.
Archer also moved an investment account into the Stealth Kit name to continue trading stocks and collecting dividends. He heavily used two cryptocurrency exchanges to buy and trade several hundred thousand dollars in Bitcoin.
The scheme extended into federal bankruptcy court. When Archer filed for Chapter 7 protection in March 2019, his petition claimed he had less than $50,000 in assets and only a single checking account. He denied having any connections to LLCs or recent asset transfers.
Officials stated that Archer repeated these claims under oath during meetings with creditors and in statements to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine.
The sentencing follows a joint investigation by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation.
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