COURT BARS WASHINGTON STATE TAX SCAM

Edmonds Man Sold Phony Trusts

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Seattle has permanently barred Glen Stoll, of Edmonds, Washington, and two of his businesses, “Nonprofit Commercial Enterprises” and “Director and General Counsel for Remedies at Law,” from selling tax-fraud schemes that use sham trusts to help customers evade federal income taxes. In entering the order, Judge Ricardo S. Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington also ordered Stoll to provide the government his customers’ names, mailing and e-mail addresses, telephone and Social Security numbers, and to post a copy of the injunction order on his website.

The court found that Stoll, who falsely claimed to be a lawyer, and his businesses sell a fraudulent “corporation sole” and “ministerial trust” scheme, falsely telling customers that conducting their business activities and funding their lifestyles through a so-called ministerial trust eliminates their obligations to file federal tax returns and pay federal tax. The court found that one customer, after being contacted by the IRS for an audit, voluntarily filed two delinquent tax returns showing more than $40,000 in taxes due. The court also found that despite IRS audits of many of the defendants’ customers, the defendants continued to promote the fraudulent scheme, for which they charged at least $4,000, plus $120 for seminars and hourly consulting fees.

“Tax scam promoters enrich themselves at the expense of their customers and of law-abiding people who pay taxes,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service are working vigorously to stop the promotion of tax fraud.”

According to the court’s order, Stoll is a former associate of John and Candace Sinclair. The Sinclairs, who reside in Kirkland, Washington, are defendants in a similar lawsuit filed by the government earlier this year.

More information about this case is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv05223.htm. Since 2001, the Justice Department has sought and obtained injunctions against well over a hundred tax-scam promoters. Information about these cases is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2005.htm. Information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.