Des Moines Sun

A businessman, formerly of Adel, Iowa, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for filing a false income tax return.

According to public court documents, Mark Francis Davidson, 66, is the majority shareholder of Collegiate Concepts, Inc., a company that rents dorm minifridges to colleges and college students across the United States. From 2015 to 2021, Davidson diverted over $3.8 million from the corporation to himself and failed to report this income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Davidson concealed these payments from the corporation’s accountant and tax preparer by providing falsified check ledgers that misrepresented checks from the corporation to Davidson as legitimate business expenses.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Davidson will be on supervised release for one year. There is no parole in the federal system. Additionally, Davidson was ordered to pay $1,449,620 in restitution to the IRS and a fine of $20,000.

“A prison sentence should send a message to anyone who consistently underreports their income each year that it’s just a matter of time before they land on the radar of IRS Criminal Investigation (CI), and the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. Murdock of CI’s St. Louis Field Office. “We strive to ensure the integrity and fairness of the nation’s tax code so all taxpayers pay their fair share.”

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation.