Dentist accused of hiding $3.5M from the U.S. government

A Colorado dentist has been indicted for allegedly using an illegal tax shelter to conceal more than $3.5 million from the IRS, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Dr. Ryan Ulibarri. Image courtesy of Ulibarri Family Dentistry.

On August 23, a U.S. grand jury in Denver indicted Dr. Ryan Ulibarri, who has owned and operated Ulibarri Family Dentistry in Fort Collins, CO, since 2014, on six counts of tax evasion for his use of an illegal tax shelter, according to a press release dated August 26 from the DOJ Office of Public Affairs.

In 2016, Ulibarri allegedly purchased a tax shelter for $50,000. From 2017 to 2022, the dentist reportedly used the tax shelter to hide more than $3.5 million of his income from the IRS, according to the release.

To carry out the tax shelter, Ulibarri allegedly signed trust instruments purporting to create three trusts and a private foundation and opening bank accounts in the name of each entity. Also, he purportedly restructured his dental practice so that most of it was reportedly owned by one of the trusts. Nearly all of Ulibarri's earnings from his dental practice were allegedly transferred to the bank accounts he created for the trusts and private foundations, according to the release.

The concealed income was reportedly used to pay Ulibarri's personal expenses, including his home mortgage and credit card bills. Lastly, the dentist allegedly filed false tax returns for himself and the trusts, resulting in a tax loss of more than $1 million to the IRS.

If convicted, Ulibarri faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each count of tax evasion, according to the release.

Ulibarri, a 2010 graduate from West Virginia University School of Dentistry, offers cosmetic, general, and pediatric dental care in Fort Collins and the surrounding area, according to his practice website.