FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT IN HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA ORDERS INDIVIDUAL TO STOP PROMOTING A FRAUDULENT TAX SCAM

Fifth Injunction Entered Against "Section 861" Scheme Promoter

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal court in Harrisburg today ordered Thurston P. Bell of Hanover, Pennsylvania, to stop promoting a fraudulent tax scam. The preliminary injunction order, signed by U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Conner, directs Bell to stop organizing, promoting, marketing, or selling both a tax scam known as the so-called "Section 861" argument (also known as the "U.S. Sources" argument), and "any other abusive tax shelter, plan or arrangement." In a memorandum issued along with the order, Judge Conner stated that "every time Bell convinces another individual to file false tax returns under the U.S. Sources argument, the internal revenue laws are thwarted."

"This order, along with four earlier injunction orders, confirms that the Section 861 argument is bogus," said Claire Fallon, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Tax Division. "Taxpayers who raise frivolous arguments and fail to obey the tax laws risk substantial civil and criminal penalties. The Department of Justice and IRS now make it a priority to pursue promoters of frivolous and fraudulent tax schemes."

Today's injunction order is the fifth entered against promoters of the Section 861 argument. According to government court papers, Bell is linked to three other Section 861 promoters against whom injunction orders were entered in the past year: Douglas Rosile of Venice, Florida; David T. Bosset of Spring Hill, Florida; and Harold E. Hearn, an Atlanta-based CPA. A federal court in Tampa also entered a similar order against unrelated Section 861 promoter Carel A. "Chad" Prater last December.