Pam Bondi's DOJ - No Longer Jailing a Guilty Man

[Katscratch]

Looking for thoughts on what may be the latest DOJ debacle.

This guy in South Florida is looking at as much as 5 years federal time because he did not pay over $10 million in income tax due, and used the accounts that should have paid the taxes "to purchase a yacht, transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to his personal bank accounts and used the business accounts for personal spending at retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Cartier and Saks Fifth Avenue."

Not exactly Jack the Ripper and he admitted to it with a guilty plea. Should Bondi's DOJ further punish this guy by trying to send him to jail?!!?

For the Trump supporters; is that the kind of rich guy we want clogging up our jails? I don't cheat, but almost EVERYONE cheats on their taxes. Should this guy be extra-punished because he happened to have a successful business, or even have this conviction stand? He even admitted to the error of his ways in court. Is this classic 'people are getting punished with debtor's prison for doing something pretty much everyone does?'

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/owner-florida-healthcare-companies-pleads-guilty-tax-crimes

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[TopSecretBoiler]

Looking for thoughts on what may be the latest DOJ debacle.

This guy in South Florida is looking at as much as 5 years federal time because he did not pay over $10 million in income tax due, and used the accounts that should have paid the taxes "to purchase a yacht, transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to his personal bank accounts and used the business accounts for personal spending at retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Cartier and Saks Fifth Avenue."

Not exactly Jack the Ripper and he admitted to it with a guilty plea. Should Bondi's DOJ further punish this guy by trying to send him to jail?!!?

For the Trump supporters; is that the kind of rich guy we want clogging up our jails? I don't cheat, but almost EVERYONE cheats on their taxes. Should this guy be extra-punished because he happened to have a successful business, or even have this conviction stand? He even admitted to the error of his ways in court. Is this classic 'people are getting punished with debtor's prison for doing something pretty much everyone does?'

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/owner-florida-healthcare-companies-pleads-guilty-tax-crimes

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He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the employment tax charge and one year in prison for not filing income tax returns. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

What's the big deal? Hopefully they can recoup most of the tax loss.

 

[Katscratch]

He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the employment tax charge and one year in prison for not filing income tax returns. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

What's the big deal? Hopefully they can recoup most of the tax loss.

You really think it's appropriate that Bondi's DOJ is recommending jail time and repayment?

 

[TopSecretBoiler]

You really think it's appropriate that Bondi's DOJ is recommending jail time and repayment?

For blatantly refusing to pay or even file? yes. I can't wait for whatever dumbass comparison you're about to attempt to make.

 

[bonefish1]

Looking for thoughts on what may be the latest DOJ debacle.

This guy in South Florida is looking at as much as 5 years federal time because he did not pay over $10 million in income tax due, and used the accounts that should have paid the taxes "to purchase a yacht, transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to his personal bank accounts and used the business accounts for personal spending at retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Cartier and Saks Fifth Avenue."

Not exactly Jack the Ripper and he admitted to it with a guilty plea. Should Bondi's DOJ further punish this guy by trying to send him to jail?!!?

For the Trump supporters; is that the kind of rich guy we want clogging up our jails? I don't cheat, but almost EVERYONE cheats on their taxes. Should this guy be extra-punished because he happened to have a successful business, or even have this conviction stand? He even admitted to the error of his ways in court. Is this classic 'people are getting punished with debtor's prison for doing something pretty much everyone does?'

https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/owner-florida-healthcare-companies-pleads-guilty-tax-crimes

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Is the guy an illegal?

 

[Quix0te]

Looking for thoughts on what may be the latest DOJ debacle.

This guy in South Florida is looking at as much as 5 years federal time because he did not pay over $10 million in income tax due,

Leona Helmsley went to prison for not paying income taxes on much less than that, only $1.2 million.

 

[Katscratch]

For blatantly refusing to pay or even file? yes. I can't wait for whatever dumbass comparison you're about to attempt to make.

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Now WHY would I do that? 😉

Right is right; wrong is wrong and you have made your point clear; this guy deliberately didn't pay over $10 million in taxes due, spent it on yachts and such, and pled guilty to felonies.

And you think that what he did was wrong and that the conviction obtained by Bondi's DOJ was appropriate.

Anyone else?
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[Katscratch]

Is the guy an illegal?

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Nope - legal. The DOJ convicted and the sentence is for US Federal prison - no immigration courts involved.

You can see that in the linked DOJ official press release above.

Do I have to count you in the "DOJ should sentence him" crew? Yeesh, seems a bit much to take a guy and punish him for pleading guilty to not paying taxes just because he's really rich and had a lot of taxes to pay.

Don't you think he pled guilty in real part because he's scared of the new authoritarian government at DOJ?

Because that wouldn't be cool.
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[Katscratch]

Leona Helmsley went to prison for not paying income taxes on much less than that, only $1.2 million.

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True. But still, that was a bunch of years ago. Inflation, ya know!

$10 million+ in unpaid taxes and then spending that cash on yachts and such? Almost everyone cheats on taxes; are you really okay with this guy pleading to a felony, being forced to pay the money back, and actually getting jail time?

We are penalizing the rich, no? This would be the equivalent of sending a guy that made $60k a year to jail for not paying his $15k of federal tax due and spending the money on a row boat (instead of a yacht like this rich guy), and that wouldn't be okay, right?
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[TopSecretBoiler]

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True. But still, that was a bunch of years ago. Inflation, ya know!

$10 million+ in unpaid taxes and then spending that cash on yachts and such? Almost everyone cheats on taxes; are you really okay with this guy pleading to a felony, being forced to pay the money back, and actually getting jail time?

We are penalizing the rich, no? This would be the equivalent of sending a guy that made $60k a year to jail for not paying his $15k of federal tax due and spending the money on a row boat (instead of a yacht like this rich guy), and that wouldn't be okay, right?
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DoJ is a recommendation. Courts will decide. Since he didn't even file that might get frowned upon.

 

[Katscratch]

DoJ is a recommendation. Courts will decide. Since he didn't even file that might get frowned upon.

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True. After the guy's guilty plea DOJ filed the sentencing recommendation, the Federal Judge took their recommendation, sentenced him, and ordered him to forfeit funds for repayment and then some.

And you think that this isn't just some misunderstood guy who deserves a break? After all, it was the first time he got caught and pled guilty to over $10 million in tax fraud.

Simply citing this a possible example of our new authoritarian DOJ punishing a guy just because he is really, really wealthy and cheats on his taxes like so many others that may not get caught. Why punish him just because he is wealthy enough to not pay $10 million+ and spend it on his personal life. Shouldn't Bondi's DOJ stay out his personal rights to spend that $10 million on himself as he wishes?

Now I will add, the many fictitious bank accounts he created to hide this activity is not cool. Still, I'm worried about authoritarian government overreach!
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[TopSecretBoiler]

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True. After the guy's guilty plea DOJ filed the sentencing recommendation, the Federal Judge took their recommendation, sentenced him, and ordered him to forfeit funds for repayment and then some.

And you think that this isn't just some misunderstood guy who deserves a break? After all, it was the first time he got caught and pled guilty to over $10 million in tax fraud.

Simply citing this a possible example of our new authoritarian DOJ punishing a guy just because he is really, really wealthy and cheats on his taxes like so many others that may not get caught. Why punish him just because he is wealthy enough to not pay $10 million+ and spend it on his personal life. Shouldn't Bondi's DOJ stay out his personal rights to spend that $10 million on himself as he wishes?

Now I will add, the many fictitious bank accounts he created to hide this activity is not cool. Still, I'm worried about authoritarian government overreach!
.

Well I don't know the details of this case. Most wealthy people don't intentionally cheat on their taxes in my experience. They hand them off to a professional service to find every penny and usually that organization takes on the risk for the tax return. The individual wouldn't normally even be on the hook for most mistakes.

 

[Katscratch]

Well I don't know the details of this case. Most wealthy people don't intentionally cheat on their taxes in my experience. They hand them off to a professional service to find every penny and usually that organization takes on the risk for the tax return. The individual wouldn't normally even be on the hook for most mistakes.

From Bondi and the DOJ:

From 2016 through 2019, Walczak withheld nearly $7.5 million in taxes from his employees’ paychecks but did not pay over those taxes to the IRS as required by law. He did this despite having been penalized by the IRS in 2014 for not paying his employees’ taxes. During this same period, Walczak also did not pay $3,480,111 of the business’s portion of his employees’ Social Security and Medicare taxes.

At the same time Walczak was withholding taxes from his employees’ wages and not paying them to the IRS, he used over $1 million from his businesses’ bank accounts to purchase a yacht, transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to his personal bank accounts and used the business accounts for personal spending at retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Cartier and Saks Fifth Avenue.

For 2019 through 2020, Walczak did not file personal income tax returns despite being legally required to do so.

In total, Walczak caused a tax loss to the IRS of $10,912,334.80

 

[TopSecretBoiler]

Sounds like he was doing his own. I don't really see anything redeeming here, but I haven't heard his side. Sounds like he plead guilty hoping for leniency. Probably depends on how much they can recover.

 

[Katscratch]

Sounds like he was doing his own. I don't really see anything redeeming here, but I haven't heard his side. Sounds like he plead guilty hoping for leniency. Probably depends on how much they can recover.

What if his only hope for leniency is that his very rich self and very rich family gave a sh!t ton of money to politicians?

 

[Quix0te]

.
True. But still, that was a bunch of years ago. Inflation, ya know!

$10 million+ in unpaid taxes and then spending that cash on yachts and such? Almost everyone cheats on taxes; are you really okay with this guy pleading to a felony, being forced to pay the money back, and actually getting jail time?

We are penalizing the rich, no? This would be the equivalent of sending a guy that made $60k a year to jail for not paying his $15k of federal tax due and spending the money on a row boat (instead of a yacht like this rich guy), and that wouldn't be okay, right?
.

I don't understand your logic. If you cheat on your taxes, you should go to jail.

You say "Almost everyone cheats on taxes . . ." but I don't. For CY 2024 I paid $435, 212 in federal income taxes and I did not cheat one penny. I heartily invite an IRS audit.

 

[TopSecretBoiler]

What if his only hope for leniency is that his very rich self and very rich family gave a sh!t ton of money to politicians?

That has been a successful strategy in the past. See SBF https://time.com/6241262/sam-bankman-fried-political-donations/

 

[Katscratch]

I don't understand your logic. If you cheat on your taxes, you should go to jail.

You say "Almost everyone cheats on taxes . . ." but I don't. For CY 2024 I paid $435, 212 in federal income taxes and I did not cheat one penny. I heartily invite an IRS audit.

You know what? I’m starting to see your side of it.

 

[Riveting-]

You know what? I’m starting to see your side of it.

Can you summarize 'your side' in a few sentences without endless bloviating?

And does it include the value of setting an example for other serious tax cheats who cannot get a presidential pardon like Hunter Biden?

 

[tjreese]

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Nope - legal. The DOJ convicted and the sentence is for US Federal prison - no immigration courts involved.

You can see that in the linked DOJ official press release above.

Do I have to count you in the "DOJ should sentence him" crew? Yeesh, seems a bit much to take a guy and punish him for pleading guilty to not paying taxes just because he's really rich and had a lot of taxes to pay.

Don't you think he pled guilty in real part because he's scared of the new authoritarian government at DOJ?

Because that wouldn't be cool.
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I think he, like everyone else that enters a plea, believes the evidence is against him and tries to not receive the max. Everyday this goes on no matter who is at the DOJ. It is an individual thing colored by the evidence and judge at hand.

 

[Katscratch]

I don't understand your logic. If you cheat on your taxes, you should go to jail.

You say "Almost everyone cheats on taxes . . ." but I don't. For CY 2024 I paid $435, 212 in federal income taxes and I did not cheat one penny. I heartily invite an IRS audit.

Can you summarize 'your side' in a few sentences without endless bloviating?

And does it include the value of setting an example for other serious tax cheats who cannot get a presidential pardon like Hunter Biden?

BIG NEWS!!
On April 11th, Federal Judge Kenneth Marra sentenced Mr. Walczak to 18 months in federal prison, with 90 days to report.

President Donald Trump privately pardoned Paul Walczak 12 days into that 90 day reporting period. So Mr. Paul Walczak is a free man. No conviction, and he can keep the $2 million yacht he bought with what Mr. Walczak admitted in court were his criminal proceeds.

"Walczak is the son of Betsy Fago, a longtime Republican donor who once hosted a fundraiser at her Jupiter mansion."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-pardons-palm-beach-gardens-153054515.html

A picture of Paul Walczak's mother:

 

[Katscratch]

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As @Riveting- so succinctly stated, for him this is:

"the value of setting an example for other serious tax cheats who cannot get a presidential pardon like Hunter Biden?"
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[Riveting-]

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As @Riveting- so succinctly stated, for him this is:

"the value of setting an example for other serious tax cheats who cannot get a presidential pardon like Hunter Biden?"
.

I consider this to be corruption by Trump, if what you are stating is correct. (that provision always applies to you, a proven liar on this forum)

 

[Riveting-]

I consider this to be corruption by Trump, if what you are stating is correct. (that provision always applies to you, a proven liar on this forum)

On further reading, the family repaid the stolen money.

That makes this far less corrupt than the Hunter pardon, but still corrupt. The guy should have done time.

 

[Katscratch]

On further reading, the family repaid the stolen money.

That makes this far less corrupt than the Hunter pardon, but still corrupt. The guy should have done time.

Hunter Biden also should have done time for many, many things.

 

[Katscratch]

On further reading, the family repaid the stolen money.

That makes this far less corrupt than the Hunter pardon, but still corrupt. The guy should have done time.

You realize that now that the conviction has been overturned any repayments will be reversed.

 

[Katscratch]

Mama's waterfront estate - over 10,000 square feet! Nice:

 

[Katscratch]

Hey Betsey... Anything noteworthy happen during that 2020 fundraiser you threw for Trump at your mansion?

https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/trump-donor-elizabeth-fago-sells-florida-home-for-12-5m/

From the New York Post:
"Donald Trump donor Elizabeth Fago, who infamously hosted a 2020 Trump fundraiser where Ashley Biden’s stolen diary was reportedly passed around, has sold her waterfront Florida estate in Jupiter for $12.5 million. The six-bedroom mansion is at tony Admiral’s Cove, the glitzy marina, golf and country club just 20 miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.

Admiral’s Cove residents include Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who bought their mansion for $9.7 million, reportedly with the help of Fago’s son, Joey Fago, who was their broker."

 

[Katscratch]

Any other favors that Trump did for Betsey Fago?

"Elizabeth M. Fago was appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) on December 8, 2020 (about a month before Trump left office). She is a member of the NCAB, which advises the National Cancer Institute (NCI)"

"The National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) is a federal advisory committee that advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services on matters related to cancer research and treatment. It is composed of scientists, physicians, and other experts in the field of cancer. The salary of an NCAB member is $2,350 per day for each day that they serve on the board, plus a per diem for travel expenses."

For those that don't have the time to do the math? That's a four year term at $857,750 per year to be on an advisory board.

 

[Riveting-]

You realize that now that the conviction has been overturned any repayments will be reversed.

Not overturned, but a prez pardon - so why would repayments be reversed?

 

[Katscratch]

Not overturned, but a prez pardon - so why would repayments be reversed?

Not completely sure - I'm seeing the quick AI answer (below), which basically states that if the money has agreed to be paid but the check hasn't cleared yet the order is null. It also says that the language of the pardon can remit (return) any restitution that has already been made. Since Trump issued a "Private Pardon" almost immediately after the sentence came through, it seems likely that the restitution was reversed.:

_________________________________
Yes, restitution can be reversed after a presidential pardon, but only if the restitution hasn't been paid to the victim yet. A full and unconditional pardon typically remits restitution ordered by a court, unless the pardon specifically states otherwise.

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• Restitution Remission:
  A presidential pardon can remit or forgive restitution that is part of a criminal sentence.
  
• Conditional Pardons:
  The President can condition a pardon on the continued payment of restitution. In this case, the pardon would not reverse the restitution obligation.
  
• Vested Rights:
  Once restitution is paid to the victim, it becomes the victim's property, and the pardon cannot retroactively reverse the payment.
  
• No Effect on Paid Restitution:
  A pardon does not affect restitution payments that have already been made to the victim.
  
• Implication of Pardon:
  A pardon generally implies that any penalties, including restitution, are forgiven, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the pardon itself.
  
• Example:
  If a person is pardoned before they pay the full amount of ordered restitution, the remaining amount owed may be forgiven.

 

[Riveting-]

Hey Betsey... Anything noteworthy happen during that 2020 fundraiser you threw for Trump at your mansion?

https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/trump-donor-elizabeth-fago-sells-florida-home-for-12-5m/

From the New York Post:
"Donald Trump donor Elizabeth Fago, who infamously hosted a 2020 Trump fundraiser where Ashley Biden’s stolen diary was reportedly passed around, has sold her waterfront Florida estate in Jupiter for $

Bet the page about Biden showering with Ashley as a child was dogeared.

But wait - was that the real diary or the forged diary you lied about?