Pyramid scam / pure trust scam couple convicted

[Demosthenes]

Lee's Summit couple convicted of false tax returns

Kansas City Business Journal - 4:29 PM CDT Friday, May 4, 2007

A Lee's Summit couple who operated a multimillion-dollar firm selling trusts and operating a "pyramid" coin-selling scheme were convicted in federal court Friday of filing false tax returns.

A federal jury found James E. Aldridge Jr., 51, and his wife, Shirley L. Aldridge, 49, guilty of all five counts contained in a federal indictment of aiding and abetting each other to file false tax returns from 2001 through 2005, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri John Wood said in a release.

The couple earned nearly $1.7 million during that five-year period and evaded $654,257 of federal income tax owed, Wood said.

James and Shirley Aldridge each could face a sentence of as much as 15 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine of as much as $500,000, Wood said.

The jury in U.S. District Court in Kansas City deliberated less than an hour before returning the guilty verdict to U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple, ending a trial that began April 23, Wood said.

The Aldridges co-owned Concept Marketing International, which sold American Silver Eagle coins. CMI employed about 5,000 sales agents throughout the United States who were designated as independent contractors. The company generated gross sales of nearly $4.4 million in 2004.

"CMI's business plan was based on a complex four-tiered pyramid commission sales strategy, claiming that a consumer could earn $302,000 in monthly income if they continued to recruit more consumers into the pyramid," Wood said in the release.

James Aldridge also conducted Kansas City seminars at which he advised buyers of American Silver Eagle coins to avoid taxation by establishing a home-based business and deducting personal expenses, Wood said. For $15,000, CMI members could buy a trust package that James Aldridge claimed would reduce their taxes by 97 percent or more, and allow them to deduct 90 percent of their personal living expenses, such as groceries, clothing, vacations and pet care.

The Aldridges created several trusts in order to evade federal taxation, Wood said. Most of their income was funneled into the trusts, then used for personal purchases such as their home, jet skis and a $48,000 Cadillac DeVille. That income was not included in any federal tax return filed by any trust or by the Aldridges from 1999 to 2004, Wood said.

[Blackbeard]

I'm curious. How do the Feds know who to prosecute if they never file a return? Do they spot something fishy like they suddenly stopped filing, or do the get tips from the public or what? What initiates a case like this?

[Demosthenes]

Posted on Sat, May. 05, 2007

Suburban couple guilty of tax fraud
The Lee’s Summit pair tried to shield more than $1.6 million in income by using a foundation and trusts.
By MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star

A Lee’s Summit couple who took benefits meant for working families despite having more than $1 million in income were convicted Friday of tax fraud.

James E. Aldridge Jr., 51, and his wife, Shirley L. Aldridge, 49, were convicted of five counts each of aiding and abetting the filing of false tax returns between 2000 and 2004.

According to evidence presented at their two-week trial, the couple got the earned income tax credit. But between 1999 and 2004, the Aldridges took in more than $1.6 million, which they attempted to shield from the Internal Revenue Service through a personal charitable foundation and a complex series of trusts. According to prosecutors, the two owe $654,257 in back taxes.

In closing arguments Friday, the Aldridges’ lawyer defended the trusts and decried the federal income tax as “America’s original sin.” He said the government was trying to keep Americans uninformed about legitimate tax loopholes that his clients had discovered.

In 1991, James Aldridge opened a direct sales company that sold silver coins using a multi-level marketing strategy. The company was not successful, and it reorganized into a business trust in 1993. About the same time, the Aldridges began establishing other trusts, including one that marketed trust packages at seminars around the country.

The trust packages, which cost about $15,000 for families, were designed to receive income and hold assets while purporting to exempt the families from taxes.

This business claimed that the trusts could reduce the purchasers’ taxes by 97 percent and allow them to deduct 90 percent of their personal expenses, such as groceries, clothing and vacations, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Meiners told jurors.

[Demosthenes]

Shirley Aldridge (2)

represented by
Joe Izen, Jr.
5222 Spruce
Bellaire, TX 77401
(713) 668-8815
Fax: (713) 668-9402
Email: joeizen@joeizen.com
LEAD ATTORNEY
ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Designation: Retained

You'd think lying to a jury about the law would be problematic to the state bar.

[Nikki]

Sooey Rediculous' take on the case:

The Power of Mis Information

sigh!

Half truths are powerfully destructive. The Aldridges were not selling pure trusts. They were marketing and teaching complex trust systems which are used by the elite wealthy everyday.

Their crime was that they were teaching it to the commoners... you know... the portion of our country that is paying the largest amount of taxes, ie. the fast evaporating middleclass. If this class of taxpayers learn how to minimize their taxes as the super wealthy do, then where will the tax dollars come from??? Can't have that.

It took the Department of Justice 10 days to get this ruling and believe me, they worked very hard to get it. Must have been a whole lot of truths standing between them and an open and closed conviction.

I would love to interview the jurors and hope to get a copy of the transcript!! There is some great material in this case.

I dont know your reason for sharing this information. Hopefully it is to let others know just how serious the battle is to contain any information that offers "taxpayers" information and advantages in the world of the IRS. This case is just one in a recent string of "abusive tax shelters" designed to "defraud the government" out of your hard earned tax dollars. There is a lot more riding on this conviction than perhaps you realize. This is not just about the Aldridges.

If you posted this info to paint this situation in a negative light, ie they were doing something wrong... then shame on you. You either work for the IRS/DOJ, or are (knowingly/unknowingly) helping to erase any hope of the populace to gain control over their money. This can scare a lot of people.

There is a lot of info that is not reflected in this News Release and many of the statemtents are half correct, not correct or terribly slanted.

Half truths and mis information are the tools of the devil. Just make sure you do your research and know the whole story.

http://www.suijuris.net/forum/taxation/ ... icted.html

[Demosthenes]

They were marketing and teaching complex trust systems which are used by the elite wealthy everyday.

And yet, I count among my clients some of the wealthiest people in the US, and not one has had such a trust yet. Imagine that.