Reply #10: Here's an article from WaPo about the conviction ... [View All]

Telecom Mogul Guilty of Tax Scam
Defendant Admits To $365 Million In Hidden Income

By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 9, 2006; Page B01

A former telecommunications tycoon accused by prosecutors of being the biggest tax cheat in U.S. history pleaded guilty yesterday in a deal that calls for him to serve no more than 10 years in prison.

Walter C. Anderson, a Washington-based businessman who amassed a fortune during the tech boom of the 1980s and 1990s, admitted to hiding $365 million in income by using aliases, shell companies, offshore tax havens, secret accounts and drop boxes in the Netherlands. He was so wealthy that he talked at one point about leasing the Russian space station Mir -- all the while dodging his taxes, officials said.

Prosecutors said Anderson avoided paying $200 million in taxes from 1995 through 1999 in what they say is the largest personal income tax evasion case brought in the United States. As part of his plea deal, Anderson agreed that the court could order restitution. But how much the government can collect is a big question: The onetime mogul, 52, who had a multimillion-dollar art collection and other trappings of success, has filed for bankruptcy.

Anderson pleaded guilty at the federal courthouse in Washington to three felony charges -- two for evading federal taxes and one for defrauding the D.C. government with a phony tax return. Among other things, Anderson admitted earning more than $126 million in 1998, a year that he claimed an income of $67,939 on his federal tax return. He paid $495 in taxes that year, authorities said.
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more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/08/AR2006090801126.html

I'm trying to remember the last time I paid as little as $495 in taxes ...