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ANDERSON'S ARK SINKS

December 28, 2004

A Seattle federal court jury yesterday handed down six conspiracy and tax fraud convictions in the Anderson's Ark tax scheme. The accused ringleader, Keith Anderson (left), was among those convicted.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer describes the operation:

   Anderson Ark moved client cash into overseas bank 
   accounts and falsely deducted the funds from income 
   tax returns as "consulting" or "management" expenses. 
   In order to make the deductions look legit, Anderson's 
   Ark told its clients to send the money through an 
   Anderson's Ark affiliate to a shell company operated 
   by co-defendant Richard Marks.

   Marks, 60, of Los Osos, Calif., would wire the money 
   to Austrian bank accounts operated by co-defendant 
   Wayne Anderson, Keith Anderson's 64-year-old 
   brother from Fresno, Calif. The cash ultimately ended 
   up in Costa Rican bank accounts.

If using an absurd defense were helpful, these guys certainly would have walked free:

   Anderson asserted that he did not recognize the 
   jurisdiction of the court because he is a "human being"
   rather than a "legal fiction entity."

   According to Anderson, the court has jurisdiction only 
   over someone who has accepted a Social Security 
   number and thus has a fictitious identity.

Wow. Apparently in Mr. Anderson's world there were no federal crimes until 1935, when the Social Security Act passed. That means Al Capone was unjustly convicted!

   After being found guilty yesterday of multiple counts 
   of mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and aiding 
   and assisting the filing of false tax returns, Anderson 
   told the court: "I do not recognize legal fictions. I 
   remind you that I retain all my God-given rights ... and 
   have never consented to this jurisdiction."

The story fails to mention whether the federal marshals obtained Mr. Anderson's consent before escorting him to his new secure living quarters.

UPDATE: Tax Analysts Coverage

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