OHIO FEDERAL COURT BARS TAX-FRAUD SCHEMES

Cincinnati Man Allegedly Sold Tax-Fraud Schemes to Customers in 42 States

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that an Ohio federal judge has barred Cincinnati resident Dana C. Ewell from selling tax-fraud products, including products known as the Liberty Pure Trust, the Liberty Product Series, the Liberty Action Pack, and the Liberty Redemption Pack. The civil injunction order, entered by Judge Michael H. Watson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, also bars Ewell and his organization, !Solutions! Group, from making false statements about the tax laws in connection with organizing or selling any tax plan.

Court filings allege that Ewell sold sham–trust or related schemes over the telephone and on the Internet to some 325 customers in 42 states, Guam, and the District of Columbia. The government's complaint alleged that Ewell charged customers from $525 to $995 for the initial product and charged additional amounts for additional trusts.

"The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are working diligently to stop the promotion of tax fraud," said Eileen J. O'Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Tax Division. She thanked Justice Department trial attorney Hilarie E. Snyder and IRS revenue agent Steve Rowe for their work on the case.

Misuse of trusts tops the IRS's 2005 list of the "Dirty Dozen" tax schemes, which can be viewed at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=136337,00.html.

This suit is part of an ongoing Justice Department and IRS initiative to stop the promotion of tax fraud. More information on the case is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv04296.htm. Information about other tax injunction cases can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2005.htm, and more information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html.