Journalism won’t die if you donate. Support Voice of San Diego today!
You might remember this story I wrote a few weeks ago about a couple in San Diego who refused to pay taxes. One of the tax rebels I wrote about had claimed he was a “natural born free American National Sovereign Citizen of the California Republic, non-resident alien of the federal ‘United States.’”
Well, two more of San Diego’s tax rebels have just been found guilty. Kathryn Hanes and Madonna Hanes were both charged with conspiracy to commit tax evasion and tax evasion.
Here’s some info from a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office:
According to the indictment and evidence introduced at trial, defendants Kathryn Hanes and Madonna Hanes conspired to defraud the United States from 1996 through 2000, by failing to file tax returns and by mailing frivolous letters to the IRS claiming: (a) that Kathryn Hanes was not a U.S. citizen; (b) that the IRS had no authority or jurisdiction to collect income tax from Kathryn Hanes; and (c) that Kathryn Hanes earned no income and owed no income taxes. However, the evidence at trial showed that between 1996 and 2000, Kathryn Hanes earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from her chiropractic business, “Biophysics Chiropractic,” which she operated in San Diego, California.
The press release says that U.S. Attorney Karen P. Hewitt is committed to aggressively pursuing tax cheats in the county.
The press release also quotes Catherine D. Tucker, acting special agent in charge of the Inland Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation at the IRS’ Los Angeles Field Office:
“Today’s conviction sends a clear message to those who choose to hide income from the IRS through schemes that promote the funneling of assets into trusts while retaining full control of their assets – You will be prosecuted. The public should be wary of these types of bogus schemes and IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to investigate and expose fraudulent trust schemes and ensure the public’s confidence in our tax system.”