By DAVID BERTOLA
dbertola@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1621

On June 29, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging attorney Lisa Yaeger, 48, of Buffalo with filing false tax returns. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gretchen Wylegala, who is handling the case, said the indictment accuses Yaeger of failing to disclose income in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

She had been employed in a variety of public positions but also maintained a private practice. In each of the years charged, according to the four-page indictment, she failed to report income she received from her private practice. The total tax loss exceeded $25,000.

The indictment is the culmination of an investigation by special agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigative Division, under direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Charles Pine.

Yaeger's attorney, Herb Greenman of Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP, has advised her to not talk about the case. He said they intend to defend it, and that if she underpaid her taxes, it wasn't done intentionally.  

According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, defendants charged with crimes are merely accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.