Gypsies, Tramps and [Tax] Thieves? A Federal Judge in Oregon Says No.
NOTE: I have been having some trouble with the new Blogger in posting articles from Accounting Web.
An IRS seizure of over $2 million from gypsy leader and used car businessman Bobbie Ephrem has been overturned with a federal judge saying that there was insufficient proof that the monies represented income to Ephrem or even belonged to him. Attorney Mark Blackman argued that Ephrem belonged to a communal sect of gypsies known as Roma and that much of the money was being held in safekeeping for Ephrem's sister-in-law (gypsies rarely use banks). Part of the problem may have been a dubious IRS informant; a man wanted on murder, assault and narcotics charges.
Looks like this may have been a case where the IRS acted first and asked questions later. Hopefully, some out-of-court settlement can be reached; it wasn't clear that Bobbie was completely on the up-and-up.
An IRS seizure of over $2 million from gypsy leader and used car businessman Bobbie Ephrem has been overturned with a federal judge saying that there was insufficient proof that the monies represented income to Ephrem or even belonged to him. Attorney Mark Blackman argued that Ephrem belonged to a communal sect of gypsies known as Roma and that much of the money was being held in safekeeping for Ephrem's sister-in-law (gypsies rarely use banks). Part of the problem may have been a dubious IRS informant; a man wanted on murder, assault and narcotics charges.
Looks like this may have been a case where the IRS acted first and asked questions later. Hopefully, some out-of-court settlement can be reached; it wasn't clear that Bobbie was completely on the up-and-up.
posted by Dan Meyer at 10:30 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home