Sedalia Dentist Sentenced for $617,000 Tax Evasion

A Sedalia dentist was sentenced in federal court March 6 for concealing more than $617,000 in earnings from the IRS over a six-year period.

Nohaud Naseef Azan, 66, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Azan to pay $269,517 in restitution to the IRS.

On Dec. 15, 2022, Azan pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to interfere with the administration of internal revenue laws.

Azan operates his own dental practice in Sedalia. In 2011, the IRS audited Azan and his practice in connection with the improper deduction of personal expenses on his corporate tax returns over the three prior years. Azan admitted that, in response to the audit and in an effort for his business to continue to pay for personal expenses, he cashed patients’ checks written out to the dental practice or deposited them into a personal bank account.

The IRS identified more than 1,000 checks Azan cashed or deposited from 2011 through 2018.

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Azan admitted that he used funds from the cashed checks for personal expenses, such as his gambling habit, and failed to report them as income on his personal and corporate tax returns.

According to court documents, Azan cashed $617,472 in patients’ checks, which he diverted for gambling and other personal expenses, from 2013 to 2018. The total tax loss to the IRS for that six-year period was $269,517.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron M. Maness. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.