Taxable Talk

Earlier this year I reported on the case of Mathew and Sandra Zuckerman. The Zuckermans stopped filing and correctly paying taxes back in 1986. When you’re doing something illegal it’s best to keep a low profile. The Zuckermans eschewed that philosophy. Mr. Zuckerman became very successful in leading companies through reverse IPOs. They owned two expensive homes: one in Colorado and one in California. That’s not keeping a low profile.

But what drew my attention to the case was a strategy that probably will never be tried again. No, it wasn’t the interlocking web of corporate entities Mr. Zuckerman created to hide his transgressions; that’s been done countless times before and will be done countless times in the future. Rather, Mr. Zuckerman put his dog and cat on the board of one of his companies. Unfortunately, members of a board of directors must be human: Fido and Lulu don’t qualify.

The Zuckermans pled guilty earlier this year. Yesterday, the day of reckoning arrived. Mr. Zuckerman received 24 months at ClubFed and must make restitution of $693,706; he also will serve three years of supervised release once he’s released from ClubFed. Mrs. Zuckerman received 36 months of probation. Of Mr. Zuckerman’s restitution, Mrs. Zuckerman was held to be jointly liable for $112,511. Fido and Lulu escaped prosecution.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17th, 2014 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Tax Evasion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.