I’ve been on the road this week, and am enjoying the nice weather in the upper Midwest. The individuals I’m going to profile are probably not enjoying much, including the weather.
In Flint, Michigan, Linda Cochran prepared tax returns. She prepared her own, and understated her income and overstated her expenses. That’s not a good idea, and its especially bad when you get caught. She was sentenced to five months at ClubFed.
Down near New Orleans, in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, Joe Impastato was already in trouble with the law. He’s awaiting trial on extortion because of a debris clearing project from Hurricane Katrina. Now he can add tax evasion charges to his troubles. He’s accused of not reporting at least $90,000 of income from 2001 through 2004. His extortion trial is in June; no date has been set for the alleged tax evasion charges.
Yet another case of untrustworthy trusts from Kansas City. James & Shirley Alridge had a very good income, earning over $1.6 million from 2001 through 2005. They also used a series of sham trusts to avoid over $650,000 in income tax. The Alridges were convicted of aiding and abetting the filing of false tax returns. Oh, did I mention that the Alridges held seminars “teaching” people how to set up a home-based business that would allow you to deduct personal expenses? And that they sold trusts that allowed you to avoid taxes? Unfortunately, you can’t deduct personal expenses as a tax deduction and the trusts they sold weren’t worth the paper they were printed on. The Alridges are looking at ClubFed in the near future.
In Dallas, two attorneys (who should have known better) have pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges. George McDonald and David Cole admitted not reporting $134,000 in income. They may spend some time at ClubFed pondering their future.
Finally, from Washington comes a civil matter of warehouse banking. Robert Arant allegedly promised his customers untraceable banking. Since Mr. Arant is in Des Moines, Washington (just south of Seattle) that’s illegal. Arant’s customers deposited $28 million into his business; the funds were then allegedly co-mingled into three other bank accounts. A restraining order has been issued, and Arant faces a fine of $1,000 for each time he told a customer a false statement.