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 Attorney’s 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 the Internal Revenue Service. The ruling comes after years of federal investigations into both Davison’s personal finances and the inner workings of EquiAlt, which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused of operating as a massive Ponzi scheme.

Just a few years ago, Davison was a prominent figure in Florida’s real estate investment scene. EquiAlt, the firm he co-founded, presented itself as a safe and profitable avenue for investors seeking steady returns from real estate holdings. In reality, according to the SEC, it was an elaborate scam that fleeced at least 1,100 investors out of a staggering $170 million through fraudulent and unregistered securities offerings.

The SEC’s civil complaint, filed in February 2020, accused Davison and........

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