Minnetonka Ex-Pilot Sentenced to Over 3 Years for Tax Evasion and Filing False Claims

A former commercial airline pilot has been sentenced to prison after a conviction for tax-related offenses. Charles Randall Sorensen, a 72-year-old resident from Minnetonka, will be serving a 41-month sentence, followed by two years of supervised release for his crimes involving tax evasion and the filing of false claims, as announced by the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.

The case against Sorensen revealed that after his retirement in 2016, the former pilot filed fraudulent tax returns for the 2015 and 2016 tax years, to which he claimed substantial refunds he was not entitled. In January 2017, he wrongfully declared a refund of $55,365 but actually owed over $49,000. In March of the same year, he filed another deceitful claim for a $123,370 refund while being in the red for more than $175,000 in unpaid taxes, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Investigations conducted by the IRS – Criminal Investigation discovered that Sorensen had fraudulently received over $150,000 in refunds and accumulated a debt of more than $290,000 in taxes, interest, and penalties.

The former pilot not only filed false tax returns but took measures to conceal his assets from the IRS. As reported, he hid his income in bank accounts under shell religious non-profits and converted his retirement funds into cryptocurrency to evade detection. Furthermore, Sorensen did not file federal income tax returns for the years 2017 through 2019. It’s estimated that he owes the United States upwards of $300,000.

After being found guilty by a federal jury in May of this year, Sorensen faced sentencing today, which was handed down by Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz. The charges included two counts of filing a false tax return, one count of tax evasion, three counts of failing to file a tax return, and one count of making a false claim. “This case is the result of an investigation conducted by IRS – Criminal Investigation,” highlighted the prosecution team led by Assistant US Attorneys Michael P. McBride and Campbell Warner.