Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that real estate agent Christopher Hicks a 47-year-old man from Simi Valley, pled guilty to multiple felonies.
From 2017 to 2020, Hicks failed to file income tax returns with the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) as required by law. In 2018 and 2019, Hicks structured multiple bank deposits earned from real estate commissions. An investigation by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Real Estate Fraud Unit, determined Hicks’ deposits were purposely done in a manner designed to avoid triggering financial institutions to file reports as required by law.
On March 1, 2023, Hicks pled guilty to three felony counts of structuring transactions to evade reporting requirement. Prior to his guilty pleas, Hicks paid $199,000 in restitution to the FTB and $16,148 to the District Attorney’s Office for investigative costs.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Dominic Kardum, a member of the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit, prosecuted the case.
Hicks is scheduled to be sentenced on April 19, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. in courtroom 23 of the Ventura County Superior Court.