Mercer County Accounting Professor Sentenced 2 Years for Tax Evasion and Filing False Returns

Princeton Junction man failed to report $3.28 million in income, evading $1.25 million in taxes

MERCER COUNTY, NJ – A Mercer County accounting professor was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for evading income taxes and filing fraudulent tax returns, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced today.

Gordian A. Ndubizu, of Princeton Junction, NJ, was convicted on August 15, 2024, on all eight counts of an indictment, including four counts of tax evasion and four counts of filing false tax returns for tax years 2014 through 2017. The conviction followed a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, who imposed the sentence in Trenton federal court.

Fraudulent Tax Practices and Concealed Income

According to court documents and trial evidence, Ndubizu, an accounting professor at a Pennsylvania university, also co-owned Healthcare Pharmacy in Trenton, NJ, which was structured as an S corporation. The business’s income was required to be reported on Ndubizu and his wife's personal tax returns.

However, prosecutors revealed that Ndubizu manipulated the pharmacy’s financial records to inflate its cost of goods sold, artificially reducing reported profits and lowering taxable income. Investigators found that:

• He falsely labeled wire transfers as business expenses when they were actually personal transactions sent to accounts under his control.
• Some funds were transferred to bank accounts in Nigeria, linked to an automotive business he operated.
• He failed to report $3.28 million in income, resulting in $1.25 million in unpaid taxes.
• He falsely declared on his tax returns that he had no financial interest in foreign bank accounts, despite evidence to the contrary.

Ndubizu’s conviction resulted from an investigation led by IRS Criminal Investigation under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jennifer L. Piovesan in Newark. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Trenton Police Department, and Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office also contributed to the case.

The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander E. Ramey and Ashley Super Pitts from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

In addition to his 24-month prison sentence, Ndubizu faces further financial penalties and potential restitution requirements.