Ex IRS worker pleads guilty for bribe to "fudge numbers."

From the Las Vegas Sun:

A former IRS compliance officer in Las Vegas has pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe in exchange for preparing a false audit report for a taxpayer.

Fernando Cruz, 43, now of Shady Grove, Ore., pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of a public official accepting a gratuity. He is scheduled for sentencing at 10 a.m. Nov. 24, said U.S. Attorney Greg Brower of Nevada.

In 2008, Cruz was working as a tax compliance officer for the IRS in Las Vegas. IRS employees are prohibited from preparing tax returns for compensation, gifts or favors and are required to report any attempted bribes to the IRS, Brower said.

In May 2008, Cruz was assigned to audit the individual joint tax return of a Las Vegas couple. At the first meeting with the couple at the IRS office, Cruz provided his personal cell phone number to the woman and told her to call him if she ever had tax questions or wanted him to prepare their taxes.

The couple told their accountant about Cruz's offer, and then reported it to the Tax Inspector General for Tax Administration. The couple also agreed to work with investigators and to have monitored calls and meetings with Cruz.

Cruz went to the couple's home on June 14, 2008 and reviewed the couple's tax records. He told the woman he could "fudge" their tax records so they would have less tax liability.

Cruz coaxed the woman on how to answer questions during an upcoming audit appointment she had with him on June 24, 2008, specifically instructing her to say that she did not have receipts to verify expenses.

Cruz also accepted $500 in cash from the woman and was told that he would receive another $500 if he could make their tax liability go away.

The woman met with Cruz as scheduled at his IRS office. Cruz prepared an IRS income form with the false information she provided. Cruz also mentioned that the woman could help him find an apartment in exchange for his help to the couple on their audit.

Both meetings were electronically monitored.

The maximum sentence that could be imposed against Cruz is two years of imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. He has been released on a personal recognizance bond.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas D. Dickinson.

By the way the Treasury Department has just announced a new program to detect IRS employee corruption. We believe that this is a larger problem then the service has been willing to admit. I will never forget the time a client was approached, some 20 years ago, during an audit for essentially the same thing. The auditor offered to prepare my client's tax return in exchange for a better result for his audit. My client was too intimidated to turn her in, but we found out later she was eventually fired by the IRS, but never prosecuted. This attitude of arrogance and invincibility is a tough nut to crack.

Yet another reason government should not run health care

From the Chicago Suntimes the seemingly never ending problems with the "Cash for Clunkers" program continues.

Apple Chevrolet in Tinley Park has pulled back on its marketing for the "cash for clunkers" program.

Why is a car dealership -- in a business known for boisterous ballyhoo -- turning down the volume? Because the government hasn't paid it yet for the deals already made.

"There's a lot of money on the line right now," said dealer John Alfirevich, who added that the government owes Apple $385,000 on 89 deals.

"It makes me very nervous."

Read more by clicking the above link.

I'm from the government and I am here to help you.

Two posts from the Independent Street Blog from the Wall Street Journal dealing with the SBA. The so called ARC emergency loan program is up and running.

Here is a link to WSJ Friday Memos.

Second post reports that banks are finally making SBA Loans again.

Here is a link to WSJ SBA Loan Programs getting back on track.

5 Secrets your bank doesn't want you to know

From Yahoo finance:


Secret #1: For many banks, the most profitable customers aren't the mass affluent -- they're "Joe Lunchbox."

In 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act allowed banks, insurers and securities firms to merge, breaking down barriers that had been in place since the 1930s. Following the new law, "if you took all the (deposit) checks written for $10,000 and above, most were written to institutions such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity or Merrill Lynch," says Preuninger. "They took the best customers. The banks were becoming more like Laundromats, where you put money in for a short period because you still needed to pay with a check or (get cash)."

At the same time, loans provided little profit as interest rates remained relatively low, prompting banks to seek consistent, non-interest income. "The focus was on how banks could not only identify fees they could charge, it was how to do a better job of collecting their fees," says Preuninger.

Middle-income customers presented the greatest potential to harvest fees. "There's certainly a customer segment that could be called 'Joe Lunchbox,' who expect to be nickeled and dimed," says Preuninger. "They are managing money from paycheck to paycheck. It's someone who would prefer to pay an overdraft fee to get their mortgage covered rather than get hit by a mortgage provider with a late fee and a ding on their credit score."

Last year, overdraft and insufficient-funds charges totaled nearly $35 billion and comprised about 90 percent of banks' consumer-fee income, according to a study by the consulting firm Bretton Woods Inc. Three-quarters of banks automatically enroll consumers in their "overdraft protection" programs without formal permission, and more than half of banks manipulate the order in which checks are cleared to trigger multiple overdraft fees, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation study.

"They are going to try to turn the best profit they can, which is why they post in the most attractive way they can while avoiding and minimizing legal exposure," says Preuninger. Someone who overdraws a checking account a few times a year should choose a bank with a program that makes it easy (and free) to shift funds from savings to checking to protect against overdrafts.



Read more by clicking the above link.

New home owner's credit. Don't wait for your refund. All returns prepared for just $88.00

Yes we are open. And yes we do prepare amended 2008 returns so that first time home buyers can get their credit now (up to $8,000.00) and not wait until next year. Your fee>>> $88.00. Regardless of whether we filed your 2008 income tax return previously or not. Call our office to make an appointment.

Click here for more information from the IRS about the first time home buyer's credit.

Our office phone number is 217-241-4597.

Why government should never run healtcare part two

From the New York Times;

“There is absolute frustration across the board,” Alex Kurkin, a lawyer based in Miami who represents several car dealerships, tells The Lede today. “As of this morning, they’re not really confident about any deals, and no one can give them advice about what they should be telling their customers.”

One thing still not clear is how many older cars have actually been sold and scrapped with the original $1 billion, and how many more the new $2 billion will be able to cover. Mr. Kurkin tells us that the government Web site where dealers are supposed to register their deals has been crashing, and the dealers haven’t been able to plug in their information. "

Read more click on the above link

Why government should never run health care

In less than a week, kiss the "cash for clunkers" program is no more. 135 pages of changing and confusing rules. Almost all the money already obligated. USA Today calls it a Fiasco. We call it government as usual.

Click the above link to read the consumerist and note the comments about the problems dealers were having with the paperwork.

Just wait to they get their hands on health care.