This "Asset Search Roundup" covers the guilty plea of Raffaello Follieri; a suspected tax return preparer fraud in Minnesota; and how cash is sometimes hidden by "zappers":
- Raffaello Follieri has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering charges in U.S.A. v. Follieri, according to a September 11, 2008 Wall Street Journal article. As set forth in an earlier press release, Mr. Follieri had been arrested for a fraudulent investment scheme in which he offered to sell real estate on behalf of the Vatican.
- A September 4, 2008 Star Tribune article reported that Julius Nyamweya Kiage of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota is essentially being investigated for a suspected tax return preparer fraud. Mr. Kiage is the proprietor of J.K. Accounting & Co. and might soon face a variety of federal charges.
- As mentioned by the August 29, 2008, New York Times Article "With Software, Till Tampering Is Hard to Find", "zapper" software programs can delete electronically recorded sales information from a cash register / at the point-of-sale. They are therefore sometimes used to conceal cash sales during tax frauds. The misuse of "zappers" is more fully discussed at Boston University School of Law Working Paper 08-07, "Zappers: Tax Fraud, Technology and Terrorist Funding".
Copyright 2008 Fred L. Abrams