Two tax fraud stories on Tuesday, making it a twofer for Bozos. And trust me, don’t try either of these yourself.
First, we head to Miami. Pablo Gehr allegedly wanted to help his fellow church parishioners. He allegedly volunteered to prepare their tax returns. That’s a good deed. But what he supposedly did©—adding phony deductions and credits to their returns—is anything but a good deed. And shock of shocks, somehow most of those refunds allegedly made it into Mr. Gehr’s personal bank account. The government alleges he did this 24 times; thus, he was charged with 24 counts of tax fraud. The parishioners themselves were unwitting victims.
Next, we head again to Portland, Oregon. Maurilio Castillo Vega wanted to help his construction business. “What if I pay my employees in cash and set up some phony companies so I don’t owe as much in income tax?” We’re not talking peanuts here; Mr. Vega defrauded Oregon out of $8 million. He pleaded guilty to racketeering last year after being charged with that, tax evasion, theft, and several other counts. He’ll spend five years in state prison for this scam. No word if he’ll have to make restitution (but it won’t be a surprise if he does).
These two givers allegedly gained…but the benefits lasted just a short time. Had they looked at long-term tax planning they might have reaped some tax savings and wouldn’t be either heading to prison or to trial.