JURY CONVICTS SOUTH CAROLINA MAN OF FEDERAL TAX CRIMES

False Documents Filed With Irs To Harass Judge, Prosecutor, Investigator And Others

WASHINGTON D.C. - Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division, United States Department of Justice, and Nancy Jardini, Chief, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, announced that, following a three-day trial, a federal jury in Charleston, South Carolina convicted Nathaniel Green of three counts of filing a fraudulent tax return and other fraudulent documents (26 U.S.C. § 7206(1)), five counts of assisting others in the preparation and filing of fraudulent documents (26 U.S.C. §7206(2))(5 counts), and obstruction of justice (18 U.S.C. § 1503). United States District Judge David C. Norton did not set a sentencing date.

The maximum penalty for each fraudulent return or document and assistance charge is three years imprisonment followed by up to one year of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and liability for the costs of prosecution. The maximum penalty for the obstruction of justice charge is ten years imprisonment followed by up to three years supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

“The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice are working vigorously to protect the integrity of the federal tax system,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division. “People who misuse the federal tax system risk criminal prosecution and, upon conviction, significant time in federal prison.”

According to the indictment and the evidence introduced at trial, on December 29, 1998, Mr. Green, of Summerville, South Carolina, filed a fraudulent 1997 Estate and Trust Tax Return (IRS Form 1041) on which he claimed a full refund of $99,929 in taxes he falsely claimed he had paid to the IRS on behalf of the Nathaniel and Janette Green Trust. In fact, Mr. Green paid no money to the IRS on behalf of that trust. The IRS erroneously paid the refund.

After discovering the error, the IRS took steps to recover the funds. Mr. Green attempted to conceal the monies by giving them to another person for deposit into that person’s bank account. The IRS then began levying Mr. Green’s Social Security disability payments and his wife’s wages to recover the funds.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Green filed bogus IRS Forms 8300 to harass individuals who were investigating and/or assisting the IRS in getting the money back. The victims included an IRS agent and the accountant and pastor of a church where Green’s wife worked. The IRS Forms 8300 falsely reported that the pastor and others had engaged in suspicious transactions involving more than $10,000 in cash. In April 2001, Mr. Green also helped another person charged with tax crimes to file IRS Forms 8300, which fraudulently claimed that the federal magistrate judge hearing that case and United States Attorney handling the prosecution had engaged in suspicious transactions involving more than $10,000 in cash.

Assistant Attorney General O’Connor thanked Tax Division Trial Attorneys M. Kendall Day and Patrick Pericak, who prosecuted the case. She also thanked the special agents of the Internal Revenue Service whose assistance was essential to the successful investigation and prosecution of the case.

Additional information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax.

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