Honorary tax protester

[Demosthenes]

When you're this much of an a**hole, you get to be a tax-protester-for-a-day.

Ex-IRS agent gets jail for tax evasion
Judge says he harassed people in the case
Friday, February 22, 2008
BY GUY STERLING
Star-Ledger Staff

A former IRS agent who pleaded guilty to tax evasion, among other charges, was sen tenced to almost three years in federal prison yesterday by a judge who noted the defendant took little, if any, responsibility for his crimes and also harassed those who'd brought him to justice.

But Bohdan Senyszyn, a certi fied public accountant who served as an IRS agent for 25 years, mainly at the agency's office in Paterson, didn't agree he had bullied anyone.

"I'm nothing more than a Chihuahua," the 50-year-old Roxbury resident told U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark, be fore receiving a 34-month prison term and $12,500 fine. "I run around and bark a lot, but I don't bite anybody."

Later, the judge said that, while he wasn't convinced Senyszyn's bark was worse than his bite, he still found the defendant's behavior disturbing in the months it's been since he entered guilty pleas to four criminal counts last year.

"I can't take the risk you're a Chihuahua and find out you're a bulldog," Martini said.

Senyszyn's conduct included writing letters to the prosecution team, government officials, witnesses and the victim, as well as vandalizing a sign on property belonging to the informant in the case, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calcagni.

The cooperator was identified in court yesterday as David Hook, a developer. Authorities have said Senyszyn's crimes were rooted in unauthorized accounting work he did for Hook dating back to 1998.

Prosecutors say Senyszyn accepted free home renovations from Hook and then set up shell companies that allowed Hook to shelter business income. Calcagni said Senyszyn's "labryinth scheme" had been difficult to unravel and may not have been done without Hook's help.

Along the way, Senyszyn skimmed off thousands of dollars of the developer's money for himself and failed to report the money as income on his tax returns, authorities charged. Yesterday, Martini put the tax loss to the government at $80,000 on $250,000 of unreported income.

The judge did not give Senyszyn the maximum sentence of more than four years because a businessman with no IRS background charged with the same offenses would only have faced a term of up to 18 months.

Yesterday's proceeding began with Senyszyn, who was representing himself, asking the judge if he could withdraw his guilty plea to the tax evasion count. After a lengthy argument, Martini denied the motion, saying it wasn't enough for Senyszyn to simply claim he was innocent of the accusation without providing any evidence.

Senyszyn pleaded guilty on Sept. 20 to filing phony tax returns, tax evasion, structuring a financial transaction and bank fraud. He maintained yesterday he should get some leniency because there had been no victim and no loss in any of the crimes.

The defendant said he'd never previously committed a crime and promised not to do so again. He also apologized to his family and former colleagues at the IRS, say ing publicity in the case had "besmirched the good names of good people."

Initially suspended from the agency, Senyszyn was later terminated.

At the end of the hearing, Mar tini rejected Senyszyn's request to surrender voluntarily to prison officials in four months, time he said he'd need to get his finances in order. Instead, the judge ordered Senyszyn taken into custody on the spot to begin serving his sen tence.

Charges against Senyszyn's wife, Kelly, were dropped.

[Famspear]

People who commit acts like the acts Mr. Senyszyn has been convicted of doing should be punished severely. And, to top it off, both a CPA and an IRS employee! It's disgusting.

I hope he has notified his state accountancy board.

[grixit]

And in other news, a strong contender for Finance Minister of Frikintardistan has emerged.

[Doktor Avalanche]

And in other news, a strong contender for Finance Minister of Frikintardistan has emerged.

I would also like to nominate Latrell Spreewell. A man who once turned down a $21 million dollar deal because "he has a family to support. A hoopster who made around $95 million during his career and whose home and yacht were auctioned off last week for non-apyment of taxes...... Genius.

Not paying taxes? Where'd you hear that?

You may be right, but the story I got is that he owed nearly $300,000 in outstanding payments plus interest on his mortgage. There was no mention of non-payment of taxes.