Steve Swan NH clients plead guilty

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NH couple who didn't file tax returns pleads guilty to evasion
March 18, 2008

CONCORD, N.H.—A New Hampshire couple has pleaded guilty to tax evasion after following the advice of an anti-tax consultant who ran seminars saying income tax laws were unconstitutional.

more stories like thisAnthony and Deborah Carder of Loudon and Aiken, South Carolina, admitted in federal court in Concord that they did not claim wages from 2000 through 2006. For most of that time, Anthony Carder was making more than $100,000 a year as an air traffic controller. The government said Deborah Carder also had significant income.

Their tax returns said they had no wages.

The Carders said they began reporting no income after attending a seminar by a self-described tax consultant who lectured that tax laws were unconstitutional. The consultant, Steven Swan, is now in prison after a tax fraud conviction.

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The press release from their arrest in September:

GRANITE STATE HUSBAND AND WIFE ARRESTED ON TAX CHARGES

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE - United States Attorney Tom Colantuono announced that Anthony Carder, and his wife, Deborah Carder, were arrested yesterday on charges of income tax evasion and filing false federal income tax returns. The charges were set forth in an indictment that was handed down by a federal grand jury on April 4, 2007. The indictment was sealed until after the Carders were taken into custody. The Carders lived in Manchester and Campton, New Hampshire, at the time of the alleged offenses and now reside in Aiken, South Carolina, and Loudon, New Hampshire. Anthony Carder is 53 years old and Deborah Carder is 58 years old.

The eight count indictment is based principally on the joint federal income tax returns that the Carders filed for each of the tax years from 2000 through 2003. On each of those returns, according to the indictment, the Carders reported that they had no income and no federal income tax liability when they knew that they had substantial income and substantial federal income tax liabilities. The indictment alleges that, over the four year period, the Carders’ total taxable income was approximately $516,000 and that the Carders attempted to evade income taxes totaling more than $116,000.

The indictment charges each of the Carders with one count of tax evasion and one count of filing false federal income tax returns for each of the four relevant tax years. The Carders face terms of imprisonment of up to five years on each of the four tax evasion charges and up to three years on each of the four charges of filing a false tax return. They also face substantial criminal fines and will remain liable for any delinquent taxes and any interest and civil penalties thereon. The Carders entered not guilty pleas at their arraignments this morning. They are scheduled to be tried on November 6, 2007, and were released, subject to conditions, pending trial.

This matter was investigated by the Portsmouth office of the division of Criminal Investigation of the Internal Revenue Service. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Morse.

CHARGES IN AN INDICTMENT ARE ONLY ALLEGATIONS AND NOT PROOF OF CRIMINAL CONDUCT. AS IN ALL CRIMINAL CASES, THE DEFENDANTS ARE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.