Bangladesh, Aug. 14 -- A former Tampa real estate investment executive has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for a brazen tax fraud scheme that prosecutors say concealed nearly $30 million in income. The conviction marks the first criminal penalty tied to a wider web of alleged financial misconduct surrounding EquiAlt LLC, a company once touted as a thriving investment firm before collapsing amid fraud allegations.

Brian Davison, co-founder and former chief executive officer of EquiAlt, pleaded guilty to three counts of tax fraud on March 24. On August 12, the US Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Florida announced that a federal judge had sentenced him to prison and ordered him to pay $6,293,592 in restitution to ...