Space Entrepreneur Walt Anderson Charged With Tax Evasion

[Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

FYI,

"Space Entrepreneur Walt Anderson Charged With Tax Evasion"
Space.com/Associated Press
http://www.space.com/news/anderson_indict_050301.html

: The government announced the indictment and arrest of space tourism
: and telecommunications entrepreneur Walt Anderson, accused of
: evading $200 million (euro151 million) in federal and local taxes,
: the largest U.S. criminal tax case ever filed against an individual.

: Anderson, chief executive officer of Orbital Recovery Corp., was
: accused of hiding income by using offshore corporations in the
: British Virgin Islands and Panama and a mailbox in the Netherlands.

: The indictment announced Monday charged the 51-year-old Anderson
: with hiding income from tax collectors through offshore
: corporations and bank accounts and claiming to be a resident of the
: state of Florida to avoid paying income taxes in Washington, D.C.
: Residents of Florida pay U.S. income tax but no state income tax.

: Anderson also allegedly purchased fine art and wine and had it
: shipped to Virginia to avoid paying Washington, D.C., taxes,
: according to the indictment returned by a federal grand jury that
: alleged fraud, tax evasion and obstructing government tax
: collectors. Anderson was arrested Saturday.

: An indictment naming charges against a defendant is a first step
: toward prosecution.

: If convicted, Anderson could face up to 80 years in prison.
: Anderson's attorney, John Moustakas, did not immediately return a
: call seeking comment.

: Anderson started a long-distance telecommunications business in the
: early 1990s as the industry was being deregulated. His first
: company merged with another company in 1992, and Anderson allegedly
: formed offshore corporations in the British Virgin Islands to hide
: the income and mask his involvement in the companies, the
: indictment said.

: In February 2000, Gold & Appel, Anderson’s investment concern
: teamed up with the Russia-based Rocket Space Corporation (RSC)
: Energia, the builders of the Mir space station, to form MirCorp, a
: company that was to operate Russia’s aging space station as a
: commercial venture, leasing the station for advertising, scientific
: research, pharmaceutical processing, satellite repair, even as a
: future Internet portal (complete with 24-hour views of Earth from
: orbit).

: After additional mergers, Anderson allegedly tried to obscure his
: ownership further by creating another offshore corporation in
: Panama, under the alias Mark Wroth, and used a mailbox in the
: Netherlands.

: Assistant Attorney General Eileen O'Connor said countries known as
: tax havens have been cooperating with U.S. investigations more
: openly since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Terrorist and
: other shady organizations often use such shelters to launder money.

: In 2002, Anderson created Orbital Recovery Corp. whose mission was
: to give satellite operators an alternative to building and
: launching new satellites to replace ones that are about to run out
: of fuel but otherwise remain perfectly healthy.

: "The joke is I make money in telecom so I can [throw] it away in
: space," Anderson said in an interview at the time. "I’m done being
: an angel investor for crackpot space enthusiasts. I want to be the
: guy who really commercializes space."

: The indictment alleged Anderson used the assets and profits of his
: telecommunications corporations to earn more than $450 million
: (euro339 million) between 1995 and 1999 that he failed to report to
: the Internal Revenue Service.

: Anderson had also allegedly failed to file federal income taxes
: each year from 1987 through 1993 and owed the IRS hundreds of
: thousands of dollars in taxes, interest and penalties.

: The indictment charged that Anderson owes $170 million
: (euro128 million) in federal taxes and $40 million (euro30 million)
: in Washington, D.C., income taxes.

: U.S. tax laws require citizens to report income earned worldwide
: and pay any taxes due. They also must disclose foreign financial
: accounts with combined balances of more than $10,000 (euro7,545).

--
Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

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