Milwaukee Court Commissioner arraigned on tax fraud

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Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Geneva E. McKinley waived her right to a preliminary hearing and was arraigned in Dane County Circuit Court on Monday on two counts of filing false and fraudulent income tax returns, according to a news release from Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

Not guilty pleas were entered on her behalf foreach charge. The case is assigned to Judge Julie Genovese, and no future court date was immediately set.

According to the criminal complaint, McKinley filed income tax returns for the 2006 and 2007 tax years on the same date on May 28, 2008.  The complaint alleges that McKinley failed to report rental income she received each year on commercial real estate property she owned.  It also alleges that McKinley failed to report attorney fees she was paid for private legal work in 2006, prior to becoming a court commissioner.

For the two years combined, McKinley reported only $19,391 in adjusted gross income, when her actual adjusted gross income should have been reported as more than $135,000.

Each charge of filing false and fraudulent income tax returns is a class H felony, punishable by imprisonment up to six years and a $10,000 fine, or both.

Assistant Attorney General David W. Maas is representing the state.