Colorado business owner pleads guilty to filing a false tax return

Date: May 14, 2026

Contact: [email protected]

A Colorado business owner pleaded guilty to filing a false personal tax return with the IRS.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Manuel Rocha, of Aurora, Colorado, owned and operated Rocha's Drain, a drain installation business, and Rocha's Liquor, a liquor store, both located in Denver, Colorado. While operating these businesses, Rocha diverted income to additional bank accounts to conceal the true amount of money he earned.

Each year from 2015 through 2022, Rocha provided records and information to his tax preparers that omitted his diverted income. As a result, he underreported the income he and his businesses earned during each of these years. In 2021, for example, Rocha reported that his two businesses earned $57,907 in gross receipts. In reality, the businesses earned approximately $691,650-a difference of more than $600,000.

In total, Rocha caused a tax loss to the United States of approximately $2.2 million.

Rocha is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 25 and faces a maximum of three years in prison for filing a false tax return. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys David F. Scollan and Megan E. Wessel of the Criminal Division's Tax Section are prosecuting the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ("Fraud Division"). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.