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Press Release

Washington State Man Accused of Marketing Fraudulent Tax Avoidance Schemes Disguised as Churches, Other Entities

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore.—A federal grand jury in Portland has returned a seven-count indictment charging Glen Stoll, 68, a resident of Washington State, with multiple crimes stemming from a scheme whereby he organized, promoted, and marketed fraudulent tax avoidance strategies. Stoll made his initial appearance in the District of Oregon today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman.

Stoll is charged with one count each of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and making a false statement on a loan application and three counts of tax evasion.

As alleged in the indictment, Stoll served as the director of an entity called Remedies at Law. Stoll used Remedies at Law and other related entities, including the Oregon-based Embassy of Heaven, to promote schemes designed to assist people in evading the assessment and collection of federal income taxes. Stoll advised clients that they could avoid paying taxes by creating a church or ministry and placing their assets and income in so-called ministerial trusts.  Stoll referred to himself as a “general counsel” with legal experience when, in reality, he held no license to practice law.

Beginning in September 2007, Stoll assisted former Oregon couple Karl and Laurie Brady with the creation of two “ministerial trusts” called Progeny Services and Progeny Foundation. At Stoll’s direction, Karl Brady opened bank accounts for the nominee entities, issued checks from his business payable to Progeny Services or Progeny Foundation, and deposited the checks into the nominee accounts. This enabled the Brady’s to avoid the assessment of federal income tax while maintaining full access to the money for personal and family expenses.

From 2008 through 2015, at Stoll’s direction, Karl Brady filed no personal income tax returns despite receiving more than $3 million and ignored repeated letters from the IRS notifying him of his failure to file. This scheme allowed Brady to evade in excess of $1.2 million dollars in income taxes.

Separately, in 2015, Stoll assisted Brady in defrauding two of Brady’s mortgage lenders.  Stoll assisted Brady in submitting a false short sale application and other fraudulent documents to avoid repayment on a vacation rental in Hawaii. At Stoll’s direction, Brady’s short sale application included a letter claiming he and his wife were under the complete care of a church ministry, had no income, no assets, and were completely dependent on a church. Relying on this false information, the lenders authorized the short sale and suffered combines losses of approximately $120,000.

This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Donna Brecker Maddux, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Updated April 19, 2019

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