FEDERAL COURT PERMANENTLY BARS LAS VEGAS MAN FROM PROMOTING “ASSET PROTECTION” SCHEME

Business Allegedly Helped Customers Evade Taxes

WASHINGTON. – A federal judge in St. Louis has permanently barred William S. Reed, the founder of a so-called “asset protection” business, from preparing fraudulent liens for customers and helping customers conceal their funds by having shell corporations own their bank accounts, the Justice Department announced today.

According to the government’s complaint, Reed operated the now-defunct Asset Protection Group Inc. (APGI), which helped customers place sham liens on their property to deceive creditors, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Reed and APGI also allegedly helped customers hide their income and assets by holding their money in bank accounts in the names of shell corporations.

The complaint provides examples of six sham liens totaling more than $2 million that Reed and APGI allegedly filed for customers who owed nearly $900,000 in federal taxes. According to the complaint, the IRS has discovered at least 75 APGI customers that have used nominee bank accounts to evade collection of federal taxes. A copy of the complaint is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07636.htm.

Since 2001 the Justice Department has obtained injunctions against more than 280 tax preparers and tax-fraud promoters. Information on those cases is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.