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Married Philly lawyers admit evading hundreds of thousands in taxes

Edward Millstein and Susan Halpern were about to go to trial when they admitted their guilt.

File photo.
File photo.Read moreFILE

A married pair of Philadelphia lawyers have pleaded guilty to not paying hundreds of thousands in federal taxes they owed and spending the money instead on a luxury lifestyle, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Edward Millstein and Susan Halpern were about to go to trial when they admitted their guilt before U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe in Philadelphia. Millstein pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and Halpern pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to pay taxes.

Millstein and Halpern owed $444,225 in taxes from 2007 through 2011, prosecutors said. While the IRS tried to collect that debt, Millstein hid money in his minor children's bank accounts. Millstein also lied about obtaining a loan to pay the debt. And he failed to disclose a bank account he used to deposit the $300,000 annual salary he earned from a law firm from 2013 through 2015.

The couple reported adjusted gross incomes of $344,350 in 2010 and $394,030 in 2011. When they were indicted last year, they owed $143,473.35 in taxes for 2010 and $153,560.69 in 2011. Instead of making good on the debt to the IRS, the couple spent tens of thousands of dollars on private clubs, trips abroad, jewelry, clothing, cosmetics, and salons, prosecutors said. Sentencing was set for Feb. 25.