FEDERAL COURT HALTS TAX SCHEME

Texas Promoters Must Give
Customers’ Names, Addresses And Social Security Numbers To Government

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Fort Worth, Texas has permanently barred Marlene Mitchell and her business “Premier Trust Solutions” from selling a tax fraud scheme.

According to court filings, Mitchell and her husband, Timothy Mitchell, both of Euless, Texas, sell sham trusts for customers to use to evade the assessment and collection of federal taxes by hiding income and assets and claiming improper tax deductions. The Justice Department also alleges that while the Mitchells’ trust programs are ostensibly designed for Christian “stewardship,” they are actually used for tax evasion. Timothy Mitchell is also a defendant in the suit. The case against him is still pending. http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv04275.htm.

“The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service are working together to shut down fraudulent tax schemes,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “Promoting or participating in abusive trusts that purport to reduce or eliminate your tax liabilities can result in serious civil penalties and, where appropriate, criminal prosecution.”

The order, entered by Judge Terry R. Means of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, also requires Marlene Mitchell and Premier Trust Solutions to give the Justice Department the names, addresses and Social Security or tax identification numbers of all persons to whom they sold the trust programs.

More information about this case is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv04275.htm http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/mitchelltaxcomplaint.pdf. Information about other injunction cases against tax-scheme promoters is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2004.htm. Information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html

###

04-745