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ARK STAYS SUNK

March 16, 2007

Anderson's Ark sank awhile ago. Now Wayne S. Anderson's lifeboat is sunk, too.

Mr. Anderson was one of the operators of the Anderson's Ark tax scheme. Participants paid money to the operations offshore accounts and falsely deducted the payments as business expenses. They would then take the funds back, after Anderson's Ark took a fee for its trouble.

The IRS didn't take kindly to this, and Mr. Anderson ended up being sentenced to 15 years behind bars on 82 federal counts.

Mr. Anderson appealed. The way I read it, he told the appeals court that the judge should have realized he was out of his mind, considering the silly arguments he was making. Maybe they included this argument used by his brother in the same trial:

   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.

This week the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal:

There is no evidence that Anderson was suffering from a mental disease or defect. He may have expressed unusual views regarding taxes, government, and the court's jurisdiction over him, but he did not display irrational behavior at trial. He was polite, followed courtroom rules, and participated in the trial whenever he chose to, cross-examining witnesses effectively.

It looks like Mr. Anderson, who is 65 now, will enjoy the hospitality of the Bureau of Prisons until he is 79.

Cite: United States of America v. Wayne S. Anderson, No. 05-30216

Prior Coverage:

TAX ARK HITS ICEBERG

ANDERSON'S ARK SINKS

THIS ARK WILL BE GONE FOR MORE THAN 40 DAYS

TWO MORE SENTENCED IN 'ANDERSON'S ARK' CASE

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