Error lets tax cheat keep $100 million-plus

Error lets tax cheat keep $100 million-plus

Telecom mogul Walter Anderson is sentenced to nine years in prison for avoiding taxes, but a botched plea agreement means the IRS might not be repaid.

Poorly written Justice Department documents cost the federal government more than $100 million in what was supposed to have been the crowning moment of the biggest tax prosecution ever. Walter Anderson, a telecommunications entrepreneur who admitted hiding hundreds of millions of dollars from the Internal Revenue Service and District of Columbia tax collectors, was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in prison and ordered to repay about $23 million to the district.

But federal Judge Paul Friedman said he couldn't order Anderson to repay the U.S. government $100 million to $175 million because the Justice Department's binding plea agreement with Anderson listed the wrong statute.

..."I've come to the conclusion, very reluctantly, that I have no authority to order restitution," Friedman said. "I hope the government will appeal me."...

Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia, said the government would bring civil charges against Anderson.

...Anderson told the judge that his millions in unpaid taxes weren't funding an opulent lifestyle. He often used jets but for business or charity, he said, and usually he flew business class, not first class, and sometimes even coach.... "For every time I ate in a nice restaurant, I also grabbed a doughnut or a burger in an airport," he said. "I could have wasted millions. I could have taken a limo everywhere."...

Tax Cheat Escapes $100 Million Repayment

Associated Press

Tue Mar 27

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