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THIS ARK WILL BE GONE FOR MORE THAN 40 DAYS

April 26, 2005

The four chief operators of the "Anderson's Ark" tax scheme have received sentences ranging from eight to 20 years in federal prison. As the youngest defendant is 60 years old, they will need Noah's longevity to have much of a post-prison career. 62 year-old Keith Anderson, at left, received a 20-year sentence.

Anderson's Ark and Associates ran tax shelters where businesses paid bogus expenses, billed as, say, "advertising" or "consulting," to offshore entities. They would deduct these "expenses" in computing their taxes. They would then recover the funds from the offshore entities, net of a commission to Anderson's Ark.

The defendants were convicted by a Seattle federal court jury in December. The sentencing judge apparently wasn't convinced by this argument of one of the defendants:

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.

The defendants wer also fined amounts from $42,311,742 to $63,525,860. The sentencing judge must have rounded the pennies.

The Justice Department press release is here.

Prior Ark coverage:

ANDERSON'S ARK SINKS

CREATIVITY ISN'T EVERYTHING, IN TAX

TAX ARK HITS ICEBERG

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