There was lots of activity this week among scofflaws and other tax cheats. First, the operators of a Middle-Eastern restaurant have been accused of skimming $16 million in cash from La Shish restaurants and sending the money to Lebanon. One of the owners is in custody; the other has apparently fled to Lebanon.
>From Cleveland comes the story of a sportscaster who didn’t pay between $12,000 and $30,000 in taxes. Bruce Drennan is the former voice of the Cleveland Indians. Mr. Drennan apparently debated the betting line on his radio talkshow, and then bet on the games. He apparently was a successful gambler…but he forgot to claim his winnings on his tax returns. Oops. He is also alleged to have been running a bookmaking ring. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a full summary of the case here.
Mr. Drennan has pled guilty, and under a plea agreement will serve five months in prison and then five months under house arrest. Mr. Drennan, quoted by the AP, stated, “I am not being punished because I bet on games and lost…I am being punished because I bet on games and won, and did not declare those winnings to the IRS, and that’s a crime, and I pled guilty to the that crime. It’s wrong, and I’m sorry, and I’m going to pay the price for that.”
Contrast Mr. Drennan, who admitted his wrongs, to our next lucky winner, Richard Hatch. As I noted a few days ago, Mr. Hatch was sentenced to over four years in prison. Survivor: Victorville is coming soon!
But our biggest loser comes from Washington state. David Carroll Stephenson was sentenced to eight years for conspiring to defraud the U.S. and for not filing three years of tax returns. Additionally, he must pay $8.5 million in restitution. Mr. Stephenson was behind “pure equity trusts.” These trusts weren’t worth the paper they were printed on, and were devised just to avoid taxes. My usual rule of thumb applies: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.