Tampa businessman sentenced to federal prison for tax fraud

The co-founder and former CEO of a Tampa real estate investment firm has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for tax fraud after investigators say he underreported his income by nearly $30 million.

Brian Davison, formerly of EquiAlt LLC, pleaded guilty to three counts of tax fraud on March 24. As part of his sentence, the court also ordered Davison to pay nearly $6.3 million restitution to the IRS.

Davison is the first to face criminal charges since the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Davison and former EquiAlt Managing Director Barry Rybicki in February 2020 of using their company to run a $170 million ponzi scheme.

According to the SEC, Davison and Rybicki bilked at least 1,100 investors with fraudulent and unregistered securities offerings. Rybicki has not been indicted on any federal charges, court records show. 

EquiAlt was placed into judicial receivership and liquidated following the SEC’s complaint. 

The US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida struck the plea agreement with Davison and announced his charges on Tuesday.

According to his plea agreement, Davison filed multiple personal tax returns between October 2018 and December 2020 that underreported his income from EquiAlt and other business entities by at least $29.7 million. This resulted in a tax loss to the US of $6,293,592.

Assistant US Attorney Adam J Duso prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation unit and the FB's Tampa office.