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And you thought taxes were complicated

May 21, 2010

While the tax law certainly is a puzzler, it may be simpler than the home life of an Ohio man now on trial for tax evasion charges. The cast of characters:

Thomas Parenteau, "a central Ohio luxury-home builder charged with bank and wire fraud, tax conspiracy, money laundering, witness tampering and obstruction of justice."

Marsha Parenteau, Mr. Parenteau's wife and a real estate broker in partnership with...

Pamela McCarty, Mr. Parenteau's mistress, mother of two of his children, and now prosecution witness in his federal tax evasion trial. From The Columbus Dispatch:

McCarty said she plotted with Parenteau, his wife and his accountant to cover up their crimes and lie in court after the IRS launched an investigation into her tax returns in 2005. She said the returns were fraudulently prepared to generate large refunds that the Parenteaus used to support fraudulent loan applications.

McCarty said she decided to cooperate with the government after admitting herself to a Gahanna treatment facility in June 2008 to deal with alcoholism and emotional problems. When she returned home, she said Parenteau screamed at her, threatened her life and threw her against a wall in the mansion they shared at 4500 Dublin Rd.

"Mansion they shared"? What did Marsha have to say?

Although Parenteau fathered McCarty's two daughters, who were born in 2002 and 2004, he remained married and in business with his wife, Marsha. The Parenteaus obtained the 30,000-square-foot mansion on Dublin Road, in Norwich Township near Hilliard, in 2003 for $1.8 million through a trust, with McCarty as the trustee. At various times, Parenteau shared the house with both women.

Well, that is a big house. Heck, you probably would hardly be able to tell that your husband's girlfriend lived there with her kids.

The mansion was central to many of the fraudulent tax and loan schemes, which McCarty testified about as government lawyers displayed supporting documents on screens in the courtroom. Prosecutors say the Parenteaus obtained a combined $18 million in fraudulent loans against the property in 2004 and 2007.

Despite her income, McCarty said Parenteau devised a scheme to create a fake business for her that showed large losses on her income-tax returns, resulting in $858,000 in refunds from 2000 to 2003. After she was fired by Dominion in late 2003, she said Parenteau created a false job for her, complete with fabricated paychecks and pay stubs, for use in qualifying for loans.

Mr. Parenteau is defending himself without aid of a lawyer. If you can keep your girlfriend in the same house as your wife, maybe it leads to delusions of invincibility.

Tags: self-inflicted torture.Tax avoidance and tax evasion.tax crime.

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