Mansion Ends Up Getting Owner in Hot Water for Tax Evasion

Is it possible to hide anything from the IRS? Even when you think you’re safe, it appears the IRS has an eye in the sky. That eye seems to be all reaching, at least in Pennsylvania. A wealthy real estate developer and CEO of Automated Health Systems owns a luxurious 32,400 square-foot mansion that apparently caught the eye of IRS agents flying in and out of Pittsburgh.

After authorities began to ask questions that eventually lead to the mansion owner’s personal secretary ending up in some serious trouble. That’s because the secretary, who also acted as the bookkeeper for her boss, recently pleaded guilty to tax evasion, which reportedly could be as much as $250 million. The mansion owner has not been charged in the case at this point and his attorney claims that the case is nothing more than a tax dispute.

However, the attorney for the secretary claims that his client was only following her boss’ direction and simply did what he directed her to do. He did concede that it was still criminal activity and his client is aware of that. The scheme reportedly involved re-characterizing her boss’ personal expenses to appear as business expenses. Formal charges include “conspiracy to fraudulently pay for and unlawfully deduct as business expenses, millions of dollars in personal expenses of co-conspirator 1.” It would appear that “co-conspirator 1” is her boss, although he has yet to be named.

The lesson here is if you’re going to build a big mansion, make sure it’s nowhere near a major airport, or else the eye in the sky might decide to take a closer look.

Posted in
Employee Retention

Employee Retention: Reasons Employees Leave

Employee Retention: Reasons Employees Leave Workers still consider a competitive pay and benefits package to be indispensable, but employers need to offer more than that to keep employees satisfied and on the job. Nearly all of the workforce (96 percent) rated a fair salary as very or somewhat important and 93 percent said the same…

Successful Entrepreneur

The 7 Traits of an Exceptional & Successful Entrepreneur

By Robert Moment Though some people seem to have the Midas touch and easily turn everything to gold, most of us have to give our endeavors lots of time, effort and the sweat of our brow before seeing things come to fruition. The simple truth is that the majority of us are simply not born…

HOW TO ORGANIZE A SEMINAR OR AN EVENT

How to Organize a Seminar or an Event

By Matt Bacak Seminars and events have always been implemented as a holistic experience for participants. Thus, organizing a seminar an event requires extensive planning and preparation with most work implemented at least a few months before the actual event. Most of the time, seminars seem to run like clockwork with all events flowing smoothly…

Real Estate Agents

Real Estate Agents are Same as Brokers for “Real Estate Professional Rule” for Passive Losses

Real Estate Agents are Same as Brokers for “Real Estate Professional Rule” for Passive Losses Taxpayer victory in Tax Court Real estate agents can claim the real estate professional exception to the passive loss limitations. The I.R.S. tried to argue that the taxpayer needs to be a “Broker” not a just an “Agent” to meet…