WASHINGTON – Donald Trump forgives his longtime ally Roger Stone in the final weeks of his presidency, erasing the Republican political operator’s conviction for lying to Congress, obstructing investigators and tampering with witnesses during the Russian investigation.
But that was not the end of Stone’s legal problems. On Friday, federal tax prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against him in Florida with nearly $ 2 million in unpaid taxes. The government claims that Stone and his wife, Nydia Stone, owed more than $ 1.5 million in federal income taxes from 2007 to 2011 – an amount that includes hundreds of thousands of dollars in late fines and interest – plus an additional $ 400,000 in unpaid income taxes . and fines from 2018 only.
Prosecutors are also accusing the Stones of placing more than $ 1 million in a corporate entity controlled by their family, Drake Ventures LLC, in 2018 and 2019 to keep it out of the hands of the IRS. According to the complaint, the Stones used money from Drake Ventures to pay for personal expenses – ‘groceries, dental bills, spas, salons, clothing and restaurant expenses’, according to the government – as well as a down payment on a house. of their tax debt, and pay wages to family members and other individuals without submitting the required paperwork.
“Although they used funds in Drake Ventures accounts to pay some of their taxes, the Stones’ use of Drake Ventures to hold their funds enabled them to protect their personal income from forced collection and a lavish lifestyle. despite having paid nearly $ 2 million in unpaid debt. taxes, interest and fines, ”prosecutors wrote.
If the phrase “lavish lifestyle” sounds familiar, it’s because former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team used the same language when they accused former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort of hiding millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts. to avoid taxes and finance a variety of luxury purchases. Manafort was convicted of tax and bank fraud, but, like Stone, received a pardon from Trump in December 2020.
The government was trying to settle their tax debt. According to the latest complaint, in May 2017, they entered into an agreement with the IRS and began paying monthly installments of $ 19,485. But after Stone was sued by Mueller’s team in January 2019, the government said he and his wife were buying an apartment in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the name of a new trust they had set up, the Bertran Family Revocable Trust, and use money from Drake Ventures.
Prosecutors allege the purchase of an apartment “was marked by numerous signs of fraud” and noted that the Stones owed the US government so much money at the time that they were ‘insolvent’.
In March 2019, the Stones did not make their monthly payment of $ 19,485 to the IRS. This dissolved the installment agreement and made it possible for possible legal action.
As his criminal case was pending and he faced several private civil lawsuits, Stone publicly raised money to support his legal defense, including taking paid speeches at strip clubs. He also launched a “Stone Family Support Fund” in mid-2019 to cover, as the Daily Beast reported at the time, ‘rent, food, medical expenses, insurance, petrol and the most basic living expenses’. His website for legal defense funds currently contains a message asking for money to be charged in connection with the January 6 uprising at the U.S. Capitol; he has not been prosecuted to date. The tax is not mentioned on the website.
‘We lost our home, our savings, my car and most of our insurance in my epic battle for freedom. The fact that I was banned for life on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram made it virtually impossible to sell my books online – my main source of income during the two years I was awaiting trial. I simply do not have the personal resources to fight another legal battle where I have done nothing wrong, “reads Stone’s website.
Stone did not immediately return a request for comment.