Quite a bit of tax evasion to report on tonight. We have fuel for the fire (literally), embezzlement, and even a connection to one of my favorites: Wesley Snipes.
Starting in Houston, three men decided to make money the third oldest way: cheating on taxes. They allegedly bought kerosene from Calcasieu Refining Co. in Lake Charles, Louisiana, stating that they would export the kerosene. If you export kerosene, you don’t have to pay the fuel excise tax on it. You’re already a couple steps ahead of me, right? The kerosene didn’t make it across the border. Instead, the kerosene was mixed with other petroleum byproducts and sold at service stations in the Houston area. Adding just a bit more fraud, the three alleged culprits ordered their staff to prepare false backdated invoices. The three face both federal tax evasion charges and state charges according to this story in the Houston Chronicle.
In Brighton, Michigan, an electrician found out the hard way that Eddie Kahn’s methods of avoiding taxes are not guaranteed to succeed. Mr. Kahn used to have a company called American Rights Litigators; he transformed the business into “Guiding Light of God Ministries.” Unfortunately for Kahn, the IRS didn’t take to the name change. He’s been indicted on tax fraud charges; the business was raided in 2004. Kahn is facing more charges in the Wesley Snipes case.
Oh, our electrician, Brent Gross, in Michigan who followed Mr. Kahn’s strategy of claiming he had zero income while earning around $80,000 a year for several years? It didn’t work. He’s been convicted of three counts of tax evasion, three counts of filing a false tax return, and one count of presenting a fictitious financial instrument. He’s looking at a stay at ClubFed.
>From Anderson, South Carolina comes the story of a couple who filed 86 tax returns seeking refunds of about $500,000. Just a few problems: the returns were false, and they got the information from prison inmates. Randall Pardue, and his wife, Kelly, each received a stay at Club: Randall got a little over 4 years while Kelly received 2. They’ll also have to make restitution of $102,000. It will be a while before Randall visits ClubFed, though—he’s currently enjoying a stay at one of South Carolina’s facilities for burglary (unrelated to the current crime) and won’t be out of that prison until 2011.
Finally, from Clarksville, Tennessee comes the story of a bookkeeper who I hope you never hired. Mary Barber pleaded guilty to bank fraud and tax evasion charges. Ms. Barber admitted embezzling $63,667 from clients using a phony company with checks made payable to phony payees. The checks were then deposited into her accounts or accounts of relatives. She also admitted committing bank fraud totaling $224,947. That resulted in a tax loss to the U.S. of about $64,000—thus, the tax evasion charges. She’ll be spending some time at ClubFed.
That’s a bunch of winners—well, they sure make writing these articles easier.