WASHINGTON (AP) – The Department of Justice on Friday sued Donald Trump’s ally Roger Stone and accused the Conservative provocateur and his wife of failing to pay nearly $ 2 million in income taxes.
The case was filed in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It claims the couple underpayed their income tax by more than $ 1.5 million from 2007 to 2011 and separately claims that Stone also owes more than $ 400,000 because he did not pay his 2018 tax bill in full.
In the case, it is alleged that the couple used a commercial entity, known as Drake Ventures, to ‘protect their personal income from forced collection’ and to finance a ‘lavish lifestyle’.
“Despite notice and demand for payment, Roger and Nydia Stone failed and refused to pay the full amount of the liabilities,” the lawsuit states.
Stone, a longtime confidant of the former president, called the lawsuit “politically motivated”.
Stone is charged by the Ministry of Justice in the Russian investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller and convicted of the trial that he lied to Congress, tampered with a witness and obstructed the investigation into the House or the Trump campaign with Russia coordinated to tip the 2016 election. Trump later changed Stone’s sentence and pardoned him.
During the 2016 campaign, Stone boasted that he was in touch with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange through a trusted intermediary. But Stone denies any wrongdoing and criticizes the case against him as politically motivated.
“The Internal Revenue Service is well aware that my three-year struggle for freedom against Mueller’s corrupt investigation has left me poor,” Stone told The Associated Press. “They are well aware that I have no assets and that their lawsuit is politically motivated. It is particularly interesting that my tax advocates were not informed of this action, which was filed on a Friday. The American people will learn in court that I am on the verge of bankruptcy and that there are no assets that the government can take. ”
___
Associated Press author Jill Colvin contributed to this report.