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TOPEKA RENAISSANCE COMES TO BAD END; MADISON CASBAH ROCKED

February 29, 2008

Some loose ends were tied up yesterday on some stories we've mentioned here.

Yesterday a leader of a multi-level marketing tax evasion scheme out of Topeka was convicted of a boatload of charges for helping folks evade an enormous amount of taxes through a multi-level marketing scheme:

The founder of a Topeka-based tax company that authorities described as a pyramid scheme that marketed bogus tax deductions was convicted of fraud Thursday after a six-week trial.
A federal jury in Topeka found Michael Craig Cooper, 53, founder of Renaissance-The Tax People, guilty of more than 70 charges, including mail fraud and wire fraud.

The RTTP scheme was unusual in its "dream team" of advisors that gave it a gloss of respectability - a team that included a former IRS District Director, who entered a guilty plea in 2006.

The Justice Department press release says the tax loss in the scheme was $78 million. The Renaissance model had people deduct personal expenses as business expenses under the guise of being marketers of Renaissance dealerships. At a $78 million tax loss, federal sentencing guidelines start at 97-121 months in prison.

We first covered Renaissance - The Tax People here.

MEANWHILE IN MADISON...

The culinary impressario of Madison, Wisconsin was sentenced Wednesday to one year and one day in prison on tax evasion charges, The Capital Times reports. Sabi Attiyeh, 44, who owned the popular Casbah Restaurant and Lounge and who hosted a television cooking show, made the common mistake of reporting a lot more income to prospective lenders than to the IRS. We covered his story here.

Tags: tax crime.