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MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE MOVED TO THE SPACE STATION
March 01, 2005
Walter Anderson last made headlines five years ago when he tried to arrange a rescue of the Mir space station. The headlines he's getting now are far worse. He was arrested Saturday at Dulles Airport on tax evasion charges that were publicly announced yesterday.
Mr. Anderson calls himself an "anarcho-capitalist," according to one website. What does that mean? One explanation says:
Anarcho Capitalists argue that private enterprise can provide law enforcement, and the market place can resolve disagreements about what the law is and what the law means
Apparently the Justice Department isn't ready to embrace this, as it has not outsourced Mr. Anderson's prosecution.
Mr. Anderson is said to have spent lavishly on jewelry, fine wine and fine art while evading taxes on $450 million in income, according to the indictment. The Justice Department says he reported less than $68,000 in income in 1998, but somehow missed another $126 million. Easy enough to miss that, for sure. With high living and allegations of cash flying across borders by the millions, this should be an interesting case. Mr. Anderson probably hopes that things go better for him here than they did for the Mir.
There's lots of mainstream coverage of this one, includint this from the New York Times: I.R.S. Accuses Man of Hiding $450 Million
Our prior coverage is here.
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Comments
Unfortunately, it looks like this story puts to rest the Steve Martin Income Tax Avoidance Strategy (this was one of his set pieces when he was doing stand-up):
"First.. get a million dollars. Now.. you say, "Steve.. what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You.. have never paid taxes'?" Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!"
from: http://snltranscripts.jt.org/77/77imono.phtml
Posted by: hgstern | March 2, 2005 1:01 PM
Thanks for that link- that's a comic gold mine!
The Steve Martin thing - I think Richard Hatch thought that was real legal advice.
Posted by: Joe Kristan | March 2, 2005 1:31 PM
You're quite welcome!
This story just reminded me of that bit. It was one of his funniest.
I know this is OT, but I still think the first 2 seasons were the funniest. With all the PC crap nowadays, can you imagine them even TRYING to do the Chevy Chase/Richard Prior janitor-interview sketch?
Posted by: hgstern | March 2, 2005 2:02 PM