IRS special agent: Correia spent 64% of total SnoOwl investor funds on personal expenses

The 5th day of witness testimony in the trial against Jasiel Correia II saw the conclusion of SnoOwl evidence.

Today’s first witness to take the stand was tax preparer for Liberty Tax, Stacia Vieira. Vieira filed taxes for Correia which were e-filed. Vieira stated that Correia’s 2013 adjusted gross income was listed as $6,630 due to income from Providence College and his father claimed him as a dependent. Business income or losses was listed as 0. In 2014, $16,016 was listed as Correia’s adjusted gross income due to income from the City of Fall River as a city councilor. Correia reported no business income or loss in 2014. SnoOwl or SnoKimo never came up, according to Vieira.

Ex-girlfriend goes through list of expenses, CPA goes through books in Jasiel Correia trial

The next and final witness for the day was IRS special agent Sandra Lemanski. Lemanski reviewed Find It Networks and Correia’s personal bank accounts. Nothing was in Correia’s information related to a sale of Find It Networks or any other business back to 2010. Lemanski stated that in her review of SnoOwl, Correia was the only custodian of record. SnoOwl was listed as a partnership in 2013 and 2014 and Correia made no personal financial contributions in those years. SnoKimo, which had been referenced in previous testimony, was a website design services company owned by Correia, according to Lemanski, and money was placed in an account. Lemanski stated there were no IRS income records for SnoKimo. Lemanski confirmed that some personal and luxury expenses involving Correia and Cleveland, his ex-girlfriend, were paid through the SnoOwl Citizens Bank account and treated as a business deduction in the amended 2014 tax return. Several other items were paid through the SnoOwl account including Lululemon, student loans, personal training, hotels, transportation, restaurants, adult entertainment, casinos, and campaign signage. Lemanski said that as far as dividing what should have been business or personal expenses that she proceeded on the side of caution to make sure no business expenses were categorized as personal. Lemanski stated that Correia took $10,000 from the SnoOwl account and placed it in his personal account. 79% of investor funds that came into SnoOwl for 2013 were used for personal expenses. In 2014, 50% of investor funds that came into SnoOwl were used for personal purposes and then 60% in 2015. 64% of total investor funds from 2013-2015 were used for personal expenses ($228,654) which Lemanski said was a conservative figure. Records show that Correia deposited his City Council salary into his personal account. A document issued into evidence concerning being delinquent on loans showed that Correia stated he only had a part time job as a city councilor and was living at home and had a hard time finding a job due to being a councilor. Correia never reported his 2013 income from working at Nordstrom’s, according to court documents. In cross examination, Reddington tried to tie other parties, besides Correia, into decision making on the SnoOwl business in addition to a long conversation concerning what can be a business expense. Reddington stated that Correia never told anyone he was taking a salary and Lemanski countered that Correia told Garcia and Camara at some point that he was taking a salary. Reddington attempted to tie some of the expenses that were deemed personal as business expenses such as dinners, a Valentine’s Day cruise, gym training, and hotel stays that could have been used for potential leads for SnoOwl. Lemanski stated in response that you cant claim it as a business expense for just mentioning SnoOwl to someone. Lemenski also stated that there were no records of customers for SnoOwl.

The case then adjourned for the weekend.

Judge Whitlock stated that the case is moving faster than expected and after next week’s marijuana/bribery testimony, it is expected that the jury will be handed the case to deliberate in the following week.

Court ended early on Friday as Judge Whitlock had other judicial commitments.