A Riverside County resident, Mac Martin Anderson, has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison for tax fraud related to the sale of memorabilia signed by Stan Lee. United States District Judge Kenly Kiya Kato handed down the sentence and ordered Anderson to pay $482,833 in restitution.
Anderson, aged 59 and residing in Corona, pleaded guilty on March 11 to two counts of willfully filing false tax returns. Between 2015 and 2018, he sold Marvel-related items bearing Stan Lee’s autograph at comic conventions. These sales generated over $1.2 million in income that was not reported to the IRS.
The IRS considers such payments as regular income that should be declared annually. Anderson admitted that the tax due on this unreported income amounted to approximately $482,833.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Mark Aveis from the Major Frauds Section and Sarah E. Spielberger from the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section.
