U.S. Attorney Botches Biggest Ever Tax Fraud Case, Keeps Job. Treasury out $100+ Million

[demobabe]

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

The U.S. Attorney Scandal has struck a new victim: the American taxpayer. A judge ruled Wednesday that an epic blunder by federal prosecutors in the largest tax prosecution ever means that the treasury can't recoup at least $100 million in restitution.

Telecommunications entrepreneur Walter Anderson pled guilty to tax evasion, but U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said the binding plea agreement listed the wrong statute. This problem could have been overcome had prosecutors not failed to include any discussion of probation as is routine in such deals.

Because of the technicality, Judge Friedman said, "I've come to the conclusion, very reluctantly, that I have no authority to order restitution. . . . This is a very poorly drafted agreement."

The case was prosecuted by the office of the interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeffrey A. Taylor. Taylor was appointed directly by Attorney General Gonzales without Senate confirmation in November 2006 under a provision of the Patriot Act that Congress has recently voted to reverse.

Sure enough, Taylor came straight from the Bush Administration. He served as Counselor to Attorney Generals John Ashcroft and Gonzales for four years prior to his selection. Before that he worked as an aide to Sen. Orrin Hatch, where he actually participated in the writing of the Patriot Act.

Jeffrey Taylor has also given hundreds of dollars to the Republican National Committee and to George W. Bush....

Rest of the article here: http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/215

[xxqqqzme]

1. the level of incompetency in this administration is

absolutely stunning....simply stunning.

[peacetalksforall]

9. incompetent or on purpose? nt

[cassiepriam]

18. Bingo. They are extremely competent when it comes to gaining power, money and votes.

And making sweetheart deals with cronies.

Everything else is simply not on their radar screen.

[indepat]

24. Bingo! Congressman Waxman needs to get the sworn testimony of all who had a hand

in drafting the legal document(s).

[Mandate My Ass]

2. heckuva job, Jeffrey

Perfect Bush pick executes another reverse Robin Hood taxpayer rip-off.

[LuckyLib]

22. Is he from Texas or Florida? Most of the inhabitants of Cronygate are, you know.

[Marie26]

3. Botch?

I don't think so.

[Hobarticus]

4. Fucker blew the case on purpose...

Anything to keep taxes out of the Treasury.

I hold NOTHING past these evil bastards anymore.

[LSK]

5. K&R

[Jim__]

6. How much did Walter Anderson "contribute" to the repug party? - n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

17. My first thought.... eom

[ORDagnabbit]

7. go watch this

www.freedomtofascism.com

[Mandate My Ass]

8. OMFG Anderson had a court-appointed attorney

I just love it when an underdog wins one for the little guys. :eyes:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a2qC6Hheaz2k&refer=us

<snip>

Anderson was arrested in February 2005 at Washington's Dulles International Airport after he stepped off a plane from London. He was accused of earning hundreds of millions of dollars from investments in offshore businesses that weren't reported to the Internal Revenue Service or the District of Columbia.

Channel Islands

Shelli Peterson, an attorney with the federal public defender's office in Washington who represented Anderson, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Anderson was granted court-appointed attorneys last year after saying he had no money to pay for his legal defense.

</snip>

[demobabe]

12. ugg. that's completely nuts. nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

19. Kickbacks for everybody... wheeeeeeeeeee!

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[robinlynne]

10. huge question: who was the tax frauder?????? how much you wanna bet that person

is a "loyal bushie"?

[frazzledmom]

11. Gee, Maybe it's just me but I think if a guy loses

a 100 million dollar case on what the judge calls a "poorly drafted agreement" it's grounds for firing. Oh wait, I forgot this is the Bush administration, fire the people getting good performance reports and give this asshat the Medal Of Freedom. :eyes:

[ComerPerro]

13. kinda blows the "fired for performance reasons" argument out of the water

[Mandate My Ass]

14. Imagine how one of those incompetents would have handled a slam dunk

case like this one. It boggles the mind. I've seen too many reverse Robin Hoods from this administration but this one takes the cake.

[KamaAina]

15. The guy used a shell company called "Gold & Appel Transfer"!

That's the funniest thing I've seen all week. The name "Gold & Appel Transfer" is straight out of the underground classic novel "Illuminatus!"; it sounds like "golden apple", the emblem of Eris, the goddess of discord. Where's Khephra when you need him? :(

http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv05078.htm

As alleged in the indictment, Anderson created an elaborate evasion scheme to avoid paying the tax that the law requires. In October 1992, Anderson allegedly formed an offshore corporation named Gold & Appel Transfer in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and hired a trust company to serve as Gold & Appel’s registered agent and sole director. Gold & Appel was allegedly owned by another BVI company, Icomnet, previously formed by Anderson. Anderson allegedly granted himself an exclusive option to purchase Gold & Appel shares for a nominal sum, insuring that no one else could own these remaining shares. By forming the corporations in that manner, neither the option nor Anderson’s name was recorded in the BVI’s public records. As a result, the indictment alleges Anderson hid his ownership of the corporations that held these assets, but was still able to maintain complete control.

Fnord! :rofl:

[WinkyDink]

16. Sounds dumb like a fox to me.

[Mind_your_head]

20. I hope someone sends this to Senators Leahy & Schumer

The part about the company being named Gold & Appel (Golden Apple), as someone on this thread pointed out, is really weird/creepy ~ "in your face" even as well.

K & R & bookmarked

[magellan]

21. Kick for predictability

It will be interesting to see how long it is before Taylor is canned by the AG for his "performance problem". My bet is never.

[tom_paine]

23. Botched, my ass! Mission Accomplished, Loyal Bushie!

:grr: :mad: :mad: :mad: :grr: :grr:

Goddamn these FELONS! These TRAITORS! These ACCOMPLICES TO MURDER!

This was a $100,000,000 Mafia kickback done right in broad daylight. These people are indeed in their own way, as thuggish, criminal, and thieving as the mafia.

They very easily, when all the pieces of this scandal are put together, are qualifying the BFEE as a RICO organization.

RICO prosecutions are required and there will need to be huge corruption investigations by the next DOJ to ensure every taint of these felons are removed.