U.S. Attorney Botches Biggest Ever Tax Fraud Case, Keeps Job

[donsu]

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/215


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


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.
-snip-
--------------------------------------

the neo cons don't think it was a "botch" they hail it as a success

[atreides1]

1. Taylor was given the position...

...that Kyle Samson wanted, but Hatch gave his support to Taylor. I wonder if that has anytihng to do with Samson throwing Gonzo under the bus now?

[WiseButAngrySara]

11. Now that's an interesting tidbit! n/t

[Skidmore]

2. Sounds like a quid pro qo with a side order of cronyism to me.

[NI4NI]

3. Botched on purpose

Like so many other policies, including Iraq.
Being incompetent is not a felony, but if incompetency was a felony this administration would be sitting on death row.

[tanyev]

7. "Scuse me, judge, did you SEE that error we made?" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

[Tin Man]

8. Me too. By accident? Somehow I doubt it...

[myrna minx]

12. I accidentally highlighted it and how did this big arrow

get there? Boy am I blushing. Now where's my cushy ambassador job.

[melissinha]

25. I know!!! You'd think there was protection from crony attorneys

Or some type of oversight or correction that could not give some crony attorney that much power ...

[melissinha]

24. OF COURSE!

TO quote Cenk of the Young Turks....

I mean come on, is Orrin Hatch's office the official US Attorney Training Headquarters??? PLease!

At least he didn't go to Regents University... but you'd think his alma mater Harvard owuld be very embarassed by this "blunder"

[loudsue]

4. Timely discovery. Has anyone sent this to congress?

AND to Olberman? This little can of worms (the US Attorney scandal) certainly has a lot of big snakes in it!

M R Not Wrms M R SNAKES


:kick::kick::kick:

[flyarm]

5. look to Texas attorney general and what he botched..child sex abuse!!

so the Texas Attorney general does not loose his job for ignoring this case and refusing to press charges or bring a case against the criminals who did this to children..nope he did not loose his job..Carol Lam did...but not this prosecutor!!





Sex abuse of juveniles in Texas covered up

Sex abuse of juveniles in Texas covered up
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/ba...

Wednesday, March 07, 2007Alicia A. CaldwellAssociated Press
Pyote, Texas - For at least two years, investigators say, boys at a juvenile prison in the West Texas desert were summoned from their dorms late at night and taken to darkened conference rooms, offices and ball fields for sex with two of the institution's top administrators.

The boys told their parents, their teachers, any staff member who would listen. A few diligent staff members took their complaints to their supervisors. But the allegations were largely covered up until last month, when they exploded in the biggest scandal ever to engulf the Texas juvenile prison system. The No. 1 and No. 2 officials at the Texas Youth Commission have lost their jobs over their handling of the allegations. Prosecutors are looking into criminal charges. And lawmakers are infuriated.



snip:

Mary Jane Martinez of San Antonio told lawmakers last week that her son also was sexually assaulted at a juvenile jail. "My son is home, but he is not the same since he was raped in the TYC," she said. She said her 17-year-old son "is so ashamed of himself he built a wall."

Randal Chance, a retired inspector general with the Texas Youth Commission and author of the book "Raped by the State," said the routine mistreatment of children by the Youth Commission has long been ignored. "This one here, it finally snuck out," he said. Investigators said that at Pyote, Brookins and other administrators used intimidation to suppress complaints about sexual abuse.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/ba...






and when the heat got tooo hot in the Attorney firing ..look what Texas Governor Perry did wednesday!! can't have anyone questioning why the Attorney General in Texas never charged anyone and wasn't fired now can we??????????



http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/03/29/29tyc.html


Perry agrees to conservator for Youth Commission
Governor gives no reason for abrupt change of course.
By W. Gardner Selby
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, March 28, 2007


snip:



Republican Gov. Rick Perry reversed course and yielded to legislators today on how to best manage the Texas Youth Commission. He agreed to declare the agency guilty of gross fiscal mismanagement and put a conservator in charge.

The commission has been under scrutiny in the wake of inaction in response to the reported sexual abuse of juvenile residents.

Perry said Jay Kimbrough, a lawyer who has been serving as Perry's appointed special master watching the commission, will fill the conservator's job at least through the legislative session, which ends May 28.

Kimbrough, who will supervise an acting executive director already in place, said he will take advantage of his newfound authority to hire and fire employees by asking workers to reapply for their jobs. He said he'll also address the more than 100 felons working for the agency.

"If I have my way, and I bet I do, those people will not be employed at the Texas Youth Commission — promptly," he said. He said he also willwork on installing cameras at facilities to eliminate blind spots where youths can get into trouble with each other and adult overseers.

"I have seen and heard enough," Kimbrough said. "We want a fresh start and we're going to have a fresh start."



snip:



Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, welcoming the action, expressed confidence in Kimbrough, saying: "I want him to go in there and clean house. . . . So good luck, Jay, and let's get this place cleaned up for everybody."

House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, called Perry's move "the right step."

Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who heads the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, said the action demonstrated urgency and lawmakers working together. Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, chairman of the House Committee on Corrections, agreed.

Hinojosa said his measure, Senate Bill 103, will "build TYC from the ground up."

Perry, who previously insisted there wasn't a need to take the far-reaching step, twice declined to say why he'd changed his mind, saying: "We're looking forward, not back."

"We're going to fix an agency that's broken," Perry said. "The fact of the matter is it's time now to put a conservator in. . . . This is the right thing to do at the right time."

Perry acted the same week the House corrections panel approved legislation requiring a conservator to be appointed. The Senate previously approved a similar measure. And early this month, the Legislative Audit Committee, consisting of the speaker, lieutenant governor, two House members and two senators, had urged Perry to name a conservator.

Perry announced the action shortly before a joint legislative committee started an afternoon hearing intended to elicit public comment on misdeeds at the agency. Scores of people lined up outside the hearing room before the hearing started.

[e-mail]

[DCKit]

6. In what Bizarro world

would the Repukes decide it might be a good thing to get involved in another pedophilia scandal?

BTW, this has been going on for a long time and I believe I've heard that Gonzo had some involvement in squashing it.

[Roland99]

9. I don't mind cronyism/nepotism to some extent (maybe an ambassadorship to Norway)

but this is fucking ridiculous!!!!!!!

[robinlynne]

16. agreed. sounds like felony fraud of the taxpayers to me.

[Mind_your_head]

10. Walter Anderson HAD A COURT APPOINTED ATTORNEY too

as pointed out in post #8 of this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x533362#533629

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a2q...

<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>

-----------------

[donkeyotay]

14. uneffinbelievable. Crime family. They're giving us the big ole middle finger

when they use taxes to screw us with. Unbelievable.

[Mind_your_head]

15. I'm thinking Anderson figured that "the fix was already a done deal"

so why waste his money on his own attorneys? He just had to sit back and watch the whole dog & pony show play out ~ no worries! :mad:

[Mind_your_head]

13. Anderson named his offshore shell company GOLD & APPEL Transfer

Gold & Appel (Golden Apple)

<snip>
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.
</snip>

as pointed out in post #15 of this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x533362#533629

"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."

More on the Goddess Eris:

<snip>
ERIS was the goddess or spirit (daimon) of strife, discord, contention and rivalry. She was often represented specifically as the daimon of the strife of war, who haunted the battlefield and delighted in human bloodshed.

Because of Eris' disagreeable nature she was the only goddess not to be invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. When she turned up anyway, she was refused admittance and, in a rage, threw a golden apple amongst the goddesses inscribed 'To the fairest.' Three goddesses laid claim it, and in their rivalry brought about the events which led to the Trojan War.

Eris was closely identified with the war-goddess Enyo. Homer appears to use their names interchangeably.
</snip>

http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Eris.html

[robinlynne]

17. would love to see the emails from the prosecutor to the tax evader....

and who that guy paid off in the GOP...

[paparush]

20. Oh boy, its turning into a whole sex cult thing...

[jmowreader]

18. I can't help but wonder...

just how much money do you have to make for how many years before you owe a hundred MILLION dollars in back taxes, penalties and interest to the government?

You guys are absolutely right, though: this was done on purpose. Your average lawyer is really nit-picky about dotting I's and crossing T's. But you wouldn't give an "average lawyer" a case involving $100 million in restitution. You'd choose someone who had the Internal Revenue Code memorized. I'd really like to know how much Mr. Anderson has given the RNC over the years.

[Mind_your_head]

21. If he doesn't have to pay restitution, Anderson can give the Rethugs

50-70% of his ill-gotten gains that he gets to keep and still come out WAY ahead! Even if Anderson only kept $30 million (30%) that's not "chump-change" in anyones book! Then everyone (except the US Taxpayer) gets to go off laughing to the bank on their yachts, etc.

I'd really like to know how much Mr. Anderson has given the RNC over the years.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

19. Not All is Lost

The IRS can still try to recover the money by way of civil proceedings. It will be more difficult.

Prosecutors' Slip Keeps Money in Limbo

[DireStrike]

22. And he's cheap, too!

"hundreds of dollars"...

[ladywnch]

23. Does anyone REALLY believe that this was 'botched'?

I believe this went EXACTLY as planned. Has anyone been able to check out how much Walter Anderson has donated to jr.and the RNC? I'll bet good money he has contributed quite a bit and this was his get out of jail card - literally. Taylor is a good little bush solider and did what was expected of him. This is what this administration has done. Remember when the 2000 election was still up in the air?.....Darth Vader was combing the government org charts to figure out where to put key personnel in place for just this (and hundreds of others) kind of scenariors......keeping scientists quiet, gutting FEMA, invading privacy...... This is the most dangerously calculating administration in this nation's history. It could be called a quiet coup. And everyone is just sitting back and shrugging their shoulders.

[drm604]

30. Actually

the only Contributions I can find for a Walter Anderson of Washington DC are $1000 to the Libertarian National Committee in 1999.

http://tinyurl.com/ys4wd6

Looking around the web, I can't find anything stating that Walter Anderson the tax cheat is a Libertarian but he does seem to be a celebrity among the Libertarian crowd and they, of course, all think that he's being unfairly persecuted. Libertarians are of course strongly anti-tax so there's a good chance that this is the same Walter Anderson.

Just because he hasn't donated to Republicans it doesn't necessarily mean that there weren't either payoffs or favors from some old boy network. That seems entirely possible and even plausible. It just seems to me like the mistakes made are too basic and stupid to have been due to negligence, and the circumstances surrounding Jeffrey Taylor too coincidental.

Walter Anderson has a website: http://www.justiceforwalt.com

[Mind_your_head]

26. I'm really surprised this thread has only gotten 9 recs

I hope more people will K & R please.

This is really a HUGE story of possible/(likely?) corruption here!

[19jet54]

27. Intentional Botch Job?

Why put there & why kept position!

[Bucky]

28. Often we come across actions from the Bushies that hurt America & wonder "screw up or villainy?"

It probably says more about the observer than it does about the Bushie whether one concludes that they're being evil or just being dumbasses. I tend to favor the dumbass position, with the proviso that in cases like this the Bushie probably didn't feel a lot of motivation toward doing the job right.

[Mind_your_head]

29. LOL

It probably says more about the observer than it does about the Bushie

You just blew any 'cover' that you had :rofl:

At least you admit you know somethin of the word 'villainy'....