The Justice Department on Friday filed a civil lawsuit against Roger J. Stone, one of former President Donald J. Trump’s most visible allies, for failing to pay nearly $ 2 million in federal income taxes.
The department said in its complaint, which also covered interest and other fines, that the department of treasury Mr. Stone and his wife, Nydia Stone, informed that they had an unpaid tax liability, but that they ‘failed and refused to pay. ”
The main board of the Internal Revenue Service approved and requested the legal action, the complaint said.
Mr. Stone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Stone has been a longtime informal adviser and friend of Mr. Trump, a relationship that helped him avoid a 40-month prison sentence after being convicted of seven crimes. The charges included lying to Congress, testifying to tampering and obstructing a House investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia’s efforts to advance the 2016 election.
Mr. Trump has overturned the sentence of Mr. Stone converted last summer and pardoned him in late December. But the pardon made Mr. Stone does not protect against future legal problems, and presidential pardons are not usually used in the United States to wipe out a debt to the IRS.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Stone, his wife and their investment entities from 2007 to 2011, and again in 2018, did not pay income tax on properties they own.
It also says that the Stones used Drake Ventures, an investment entity controlled by their family, to try to hide their wealth.
“Drake Ventures exists as a vehicle to receive revenue that belongs to the Stones and pay their personal expenses,” the complaint reads. “Recognizing Drake Ventures as a separate entity, despite these facts, will sanction the Stones’ efforts to evade their tax liabilities and conceal their assets for collection by creditors.”
In 2018 and 2019, Mr. Stone fraudulently transferred a total of $ 1 million in assets to accounts held by Drake Ventures.
The Stones are also accused of using Drake Ventures to pay co-workers, family members and others without filing the required tax forms.
After Stone was indicted in 2019 in connection with the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian election interference, he and his wife formed the Bertran Trust, the complaint reads, and used the trust to buy their home with their own assets in a attempt to hide it from the government.
The statute of limitations on tax crimes is usually ten years from the date on which a tax bill is assessed. However, the lawsuit includes older tax violations allegedly committed by the Stones because the couple began negotiating a payment plan with the IRS in May 2017 and agreed to pay $ 19,485 a month for their unpaid taxes.
They made the payments from a Drake Ventures account, the government said.