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rosecutors claim that Kevin Mullen, a Twin Cities real‑estate broker who has closed more than $100 million in high‑end sales since 2021, owes a tax shortfall that dates back to 2008. The indictment, filed in Hennepin County District Court, charges Mullen with ten felonies: five counts of failing to file and five counts of failing to pay his taxes. The alleged deficiency totals $397,647 for the years 2019‑2023, excluding penalties and interest. Although Minnesota’s statute of limitations limits prosecution to offenses after 2019, the indictment alleges that Mullen’s evasion began in 2008.

    The Minnesota Department of Revenue notified Mullen of the investigation in December 2024, and he filed the missing returns in February. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the charges serve as a deterrent, emphasizing that tax fraud hurts communities, not just the state. Mullen’s lawyer, Tom Brever, described the accusations as serious and said his client is awaiting further details at a November court appearance. Brever noted that Mullen approached him a year ago to straighten out his tax affairs.

    The indictment claims that Mullen’s filed returns closely matched evidence obtained through subpoenas for his bank records, real‑estate and mortgage documents. A tax specialist reviewed the returns and found Mullen’s annual income ranged from $182,000 to $2.4 million between 2019 and 2023. Mullen’s real‑estate activity includes the 2022 sale of Eleven, Minneapolis’s tallest residential tower, and sales totals of $20.4 million in 2021, $24.2 million in 2022, $38.3 million in 2023, $14.6 million in 2024, and $4.4 million so far in 2025. He earns commissions through a pass‑through entity, reporting business earnings and losses as personal income, and he has failed to file corporate tax returns. In 2024 he was listed among Minnesota’s top 100 agents by RealTrends.

    The Department of Revenue began its probe after discovering that Mullen had not filed income tax returns since 2012. The indictment alleges that Mullen was aware of his filing obligations and made calls to the agency in 2012, 2013, and 2017 regarding his liability. In 2017 he claimed to be in the process of filing for the years 2008‑2011 and 2013‑2016, yet none of those returns were ever submitted. Investigators also examined a 2021 mortgage for a Wayzata home that Mullen and his wife purchased for $1.76 million, with a $1.5 million loan. The mortgage file contained two “comfort letters” purportedly written by “the CPA for Kevin Mullen.” Comfort letters are typically issued by a certified public accountant to verify self‑employment status for small‑business owners, a practice that has declined since the subprime crisis.

    The CPA testified that Mullen was a business associate and that they had a verbal agreement, but the CPA never performed tax work for Mullen. He admitted drafting one comfort letter but could not recall the second. Text messages supplied to the Department of Revenue show Mullen expressing enthusiasm about working with the CPA in September 2021 and promising to send documents, but the CPA never heard from him again. When the investigator called Mullen in December, he admitted to not filing returns and said he needed to “hit this thing completely head‑on” and “get organized and get back on track.”