Texas man charged with hiding millions through sham trust scheme

A federal indictment was unsealed Monday in the Eastern District of Texas charging a Plano, Texas, man with tax crimes tied to an abusive tax shelter scheme, along with filing false retaliatory liens against federal officials.

According to the indictment, Roger Napoleon Grant used a multi-tiered trust structure — typically involving at least two sham trusts and a purported charitable foundation — to conceal his income from the IRS. Prosecutors said Grant also promoted and sold the shelter to clients, charging between $12,500 and $50,000 per sale, and telling them that income assigned to the trusts would be tax-free.

From 2017 through 2022, Grant allegedly funneled income from promoting the tax shelter into a purported business trust account. While he reported only about $80,521 in total income over that period, prosecutors said he received millions of dollars into the trust account, over which he had exclusive control and routinely used to cover personal expenses.

The indictment states Grant prepared and distributed trust and foundation documents for clients and provided ongoing guidance on using the shelter. He allegedly assured clients that despite reassigning their income, their business operations would remain unchanged and that they would retain full control over their companies and earnings as trustees. Prosecutors allege Grant knew the deductions claimed on both his own and his clients’ trust tax returns were fraudulent and designed to hide their true income from the IRS.

The indictment also alleges that after learning of the criminal investigation against him in April 2025, Grant retaliated by filing false liens against several government officials, including the U.S. attorney general, the acting IRS commissioner, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado, the clerk of court for the District of Colorado and a Justice Department Civil Division attorney.

Grant faces five counts of tax evasion, 10 counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false income tax returns, and 10 counts of filing false retaliatory liens. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison on each tax evasion count, three years on each false-return count and 10 years on each false-lien count.

The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs of the Eastern District of Texas. IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case, while Acting Assistant Deputy Chief Boris Bourget and Trial Attorney Lauren K. Pope of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting it.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.