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Tag: John Lloyd Kirk

  • DIALING UP THE BIZARRE: Prisoner Who Reportedly Once Stole Tractor-Trailer Full Of ‘Canned Beans’ And Later Followed ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Bleatings Convicted Of Running Tax Scam From Jail

    This one is almost indescribably bizarre . . .

    Ronald Williams, 48, was an inmate in various prisons in New York state between 2006 and 2010, federal prosecutors said.

    His mother told the Syracuse Post-Standard that her son was jailed in 2006 on charges of stealing a tractor-trailer full of “canned beans” off a street in Buffalo.

    While incarcerated, Williams got the not-so-bright idea of filing false tax returns from prison, apparently after being influenced by a purported “sovereign citizen” website article attributed in part to “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” the newspaper reported.

    Obi-Wan Kenobi, of course, is a fictional character from the Star Wars franchise.

    Federal prosecutors now say Williams filed 11 false returns from prison, and assisted another prisoner in filing a bogus return.

    In one instance, prosecutors said, Williams managed to dupe the IRS into sending him a refund of $327,456.04 to his prison address. The check was intercepted by the prison and returned to the IRS.

    Williams, who “never actually received any monies,” also engaged in redemption scams in which he fabricated “withholdings on numerous Forms 1099-OID by claiming false withholding credits,” prosecutors said. “The eleven returns were for payment of refunds of taxes totaling $890,000,000.”

    (See a PP Blog story about a different redemption scam, this one operating from Washington state and allegedly involving purported “sovereign citizen” John Lloyd Kirk, who once was imprisoned for possessing a pipe bomb.)

    A jury convicted Williams last week on all 12 counts filed against him, the office of U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian of the Northern District of New York said.

    “The object of these schemes is to defraud the government and the taxpaying public,” said Victor W. Lessoff, acting special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigations Unit.  “Although a check was computer generated in this case, immediate action was taken as soon as it was identified by IRS Criminal Investigation and those involved in this scheme were vigorously prosecuted.”

  • Government Sues Washington State Man Once Imprisoned For Possessing Explosive Device; John Lloyd Kirk Now Accused Of Pushing ‘Redemption’ Tax Scam; Anti-Defamation League’s Brief On Kirk Is On Same Webpage As Brief On AdSurfDaily Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming

    A Washington state man sentenced in the 1990s to 46 months in federal prison for possessing a pipe bomb now has become the subject of a tax investigation.

    A civil case filed Thursday in Seattle against John Lloyd Kirk accuses him of pushing a “redemption” tax scheme. At least 31 of Kirk’s customers sought fraudulent tax refunds totaling about $8 million, the Justice Department said.

    Kirk, 70, of Des Moines, Wash., has been identified by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as a “sovereign citizen” and member of an extremist group known as the “Little Shell Pembina Band.”

    Kenneth Wayne Leaming, an emerging figure in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme story, also has been identified by ADL as a sovereign citizen and member of the Little Shell Pembina Band. Leaming lists an address in Spanaway, Wash. In 2010, he sought unsuccessfully to sue the United States for the apparent sum of more than $29 TRILLION for its actions in the ASD case. The sum sought in the lawsuit was more than twice the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 2009.

    ASD President Andy Bowdoin was indicted last year on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities. ASD is known to have sovereign citizens and tax-deniers in its ranks, and Bowdoin was accused of operating a Ponzi scheme that gathered at least $110 million.

    Leaming’s history also includes the filing of bogus liens against government officials and a Franciscan hospital in Washington state, according to records. Like Kirk, he has purported to practice tribal law.

    An ADL website publishes brief profiles of both Leaming and Kirk on the same page.

    The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Kirk does not reference ASD. Kirk was accused of hatching a redemption scheme individually and through two entities: Indian Nations Advocate Law Office and The Kirk of Yahh Hava.

    “Kirk purports to be a member of good standing of the Tulalip Tribal Bar and allowed to
    practice law before its tribal court although he is not an attorney,” the Justice Department alleged.

    In a redemption scheme, customers typically are told that the government maintains “secret” accounts for U.S. citizens and that the accounts contain vast sums of money that can be accessed and used to retire debts. Another form of the redemption theory holds that individuals can “draw” on their secret accounts with the U.S. Treasury to pay their tax bills and qualify for spectacular refunds.

    “Kirk’s scheme is part of a ongoing trend amongst tax protestors to file frivolous tax returns and Forms 1099-OID (or to claim false OID income) with the IRS and courts in an attempt to escape their federal tax obligations and steal from the U.S. Treasury,” the Justice Department said.

    “At his 1099 OID seminars, Kirk advises his customers that they can draw on a secret account with the United States Treasury to pay their debts,” the Justice Department alleged. “He further advises his customers to file bogus tax returns with fraudulent Forms 1099-OID to draw on this secret account that the Treasury supposedly maintains for each person. Accordingly, he advises his customers to file false Forms 1099-OID and tax returns seeking tax refunds for amounts equal to the amounts of their mortgages, car loans, credit card debts, and other debts as well as any interest incurred on those obligations.”

    Kirk advised one of his customers to file fraudulent paperwork to receive a tax refund of more than $130,000. In another case, a customer of Kirk’s received a fraudulent refund of more than $700,000. At least 31 Kirk customers filed for fraudulent refunds totaling approximately $8 million, the Justice Department said.

    The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a terrorism research group based at the University of Maryland, identified Kirk as a member of the Washington state “Freemen.” ADL, meanwhile, reported that Kirk was a friend of infamous Montana Freeman LeRoy Schweitzer.