Taxable Talk

VaporTech is a Livermore (California) company that uses steam, vapor, and high pressure to clean toxic soils or increase oil production from old wells. Its CEO used to be John Frances Griffin. I say ‘used to be’ because Mr. Griffin, already under indictment for mail fraud, has now been charged with two counts of tax evasion.

A federal grand jury in Oakland indicted Mr. Griffin on tax evasion charges last week. Griffin supposedly didn’t tell his CFO his social security number, and got paid in cash and cashier’s checks to avoid having his income shown. (I will only briefly note that the CFO, who was not identified in the news story, should have his head examined.)

Mr. Griffin is already in a halfway house awaiting trial. He’s likely going to be spending some significant time at ClubFed. Additionally, the government has begun forfeiture proceedings against him, and wishes to obtain a gold tennis racket, televisions, and over $17,000 in clothes from Nieman Marcus.

Joe Mammana owns the Yardley Egg Farm in Ohio. He’s pledged millions to crack down on criminals. There’s just one little problem, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office: Mr. Mammana hasn’t paid his own taxes.

The Associated Press reports that Mammana hasn’t paid federal taxes since 2000. He’s accused of earning over $3 million, owning luxury cars and a luxurious home without paying taxes. He’s currently in jail after a search found an unregistered handgun. U.S. Magistrate L. Felipe Restrepo denied bail, calling Mammana a flight risk.

Meanwhile, Mammana is accused by an Ohio crime-fighting group of reneging on his promised reward. The head of that group, Kevin Miles, has sued Mammana after he was attacked with a baseball bat and told during the attack to drop the lawsuit.

This is a story that really speaks for itself. Reverend John Henry Walker of the Macedonia Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina pleaded guilty to nine counts of tax evasion and bank fraud. The Associated Press reported that federal prosecutors told the judge in the case that Walker used a church credit card for, “erectile dysfunction medication and hotel visits with female parishioners.” Walker’s attorney told the AP that, “…the government’s allegations of socially irresponsible behavior regarding Pastor Walker’s private life were completely without merit and amounted to just plan dirty litigation.”

The story notes that the church congregation will be voting within the next two weeks on whether Walker will be keeping his job.