|
Case Studies
U.S. Postal Employees Rip-off Post Office for $3 Million!
A Florida couple, both U.S. Postal Service managers, recently pleaded guilty to an elaborate scheme that netted them millions and they now face up to 480 months in jail and fines of $12 million for defrauding the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service.
The taxpayers, who were in charge of managing computer contracts for the U.S. Postal Service, started their crime wave by accepting airline tickets and gift certificates to upscale New York department stores as bribes from a computer company that had contracts with the postal service.
The scheme soon evolved into creating fictitious contracts with the computer company and approving payments that the company's accountant then diverted to the couple. Unfortunately, the accountant was already under investigation for helping other taxpayers launder money.
The couple was living the good life with a new 26-foot speed boat, $140,000 of stereo equipment an a lavish new home in South Florida - complete with a Jacuzzi waterfall, marble staircase and toy train set that traveled from room to room.
When the couple wasn't in their new home, they were traveling the world, buying expensive jewelry and staying at post resorts. The couple was arrested in Caracas, Venezuela, where they had recently fled after a internal postal service audit turned up discrepancies.
Widowed School Teacher Denied Innocent Spouse Relief!
A widowed Maryland taxpayer recently was denied Innocent Spouse Relief in a case in which her husband had withdrawn $629,083 from his pension plan and put the money in a bank account and in U.S. securities. The taxpayer was unaware of these actions.
When the widow discovered what her husband had done, she transferred the pension money into IRA accounts, even though the time for a valid transfer had long since passed. The pension plan issued the taxpayer a Form 1099, clearly indicating that the pension distribution was taxable.
The taxpayer reported the $629,083 as a non-taxable rollover. But the IRS disallowed the rollover, billed the taxpayer $268,376 and then denied her claim for Innocent Spouse Relief, which she had based on being unaware of her deceased husband's actions.
|
