Posted on 02/22/2010 10:55:22 AM PST by jazusamo
Washington - In a landmark RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuit certain to have far-reaching implications for the animal rights movement, Feld Entertainment and the Ringling Brothers circus sued the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), its lawyers, and several other animal rights groups last week. The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) unearthed the lawsuit in federal court records today. CCF is making the lawsuit available online at its newest website, www.HumaneWatch.org
"America's farmers, ranchers, hunters, fishermen, research scientists, fashion designers, and restaurateurs have seen for decades how the animal rights movement can behave like a mobbed-up racket," said CCF Director of Research David Martosko. "But it's still shocking to see the evidence laid out on paper. In a treble-damage lawsuit like this, a jury could actually do the humane thing and finally put HSUS out of business completely."
In its February 16 lawsuit, Feld leveled bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice, and money laundering charges against HSUS and two of its corporate attorneys; three other animal rights groups; the Washington, DC law firm of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal; and all three of that firm's named partners. On December 30, 2009, Federal Judge Emmitt Sullivan ruled that these defendants collaborated to pay more than $190,000 to Mr. Tom Rider, a former Feld employee who was an elephant "barn helper" for two years in the late 1990s, in exchange for his impeached testimony against Feld in an earlier lawsuit-testimony Judge Sullivan declared "not credible" and disregarded in its entirety. That lawsuit was dismissed.
Feld is also suing Mr. Rider, and a nonprofit "Wildlife Advocacy Project" charity, claiming that Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal used it to funnel money from their plaintiff clients to Mr. Rider. These clients included the Fund for Animals, which merged with HSUS in 2004.
"The new HumaneWatch website is the only place the public will be able to read this lawsuit," Martosko added. "We're publishing a treasure trove of information about the Humane Society of the United States, including lots of surprising documents that HSUS would rather remain hidden from its contributors."
Last week CCF launched www.HumaneWatch.org,an online watchdog project dedicated to analyzing HSUS's activities and keeping the group honest. It includes a blog, an interactive document library, and a growing body of information about HSUS-related organizations and staff.
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.
====================================
As part of the Tax-Exempt Compensation Enforcement Project, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) intends to examine non-profit organizations (NPO‘s), to learn more about the practices nonprofits follow as they fill out Form 990, the main public disclosure documents for charities and foundations, and whether accounting fraud and tax evasion is taking place, and whether the compensation of specific individuals is excessive and, and whether instances of questionable compensation practices may evade IRS, banking and SEC laws.
The IRS will examine NPO insider transactions, such as (1) loans, the (2) sale, (3) exchange or (4) leasing of property to non-profit officers and others. In particular, the IRS will look to see how organizations report (5) "excess benefit transactions" on Form 990, and (6) executive pay. The IRS enforcement effort will determine whether NPO's are abusing their tax-exempt status. "We are concerned that some charities and private foundations are abusing their tax-exempt status by paying exorbitant compensation to their officers and others," said IRS Commissioner Mark Everson.
The IRS has received complaints that 501C's are being used to run just about every kind of off-the-books accounting fraud.
In one case, the president of a non-profit organization was embezzling donations and was engaging in accounting fraud by having the NPO pay his entire apartment lease which was fraudulently booked on non-profit documents as a "business office."
Concerns have also been raised that the IRS has been stymied in its efforts to penalize falsified tax documents and official financial instruments to cover-up theft, and the failure of individuals to report stolen money as income.
Nonprofits, trust, foundations, and unions, have the potential for, and may, in fact, be major money laundering conduits. They wrap themselves in high-sounding causes while engaging in activities that are fraudulent and benefit insiders at the expense of law-abiding Americans.
Legal fees, a line item in most non-profit accounting reports, are well-used money laundering schemes that evade US taxes and use fraudulent accounting techniques to violate US banking and SEC laws. 501C's are used to run just about every kind of fraudulent accounting schemes, some observers say.
In another infamous tax-exempt scheme, millions were siphoned off through fraudulent accounting entries for “administrative fees” and for “maintenance fees” that were paid to phantom recipients, then illegally converted, and laundered.
==============================================
L/E might consider:
(a) conspiracy to defraud the IRS, and evade US banking laws,
(b) international money laundering,
(c) conspiracy to commit money laundering, and,
(d) aiding and abetting the preparation of false federal/state income tax returns.
Authorities might examine the tax-exempt's receipts to falsely verify bogus charitable contributions (kickbacks) and multiple conspiracies and transfers of funds as part of a money-laundering conspiracy.
Audits might show off-the-books bank accounts that were accessed solely by insiders, and that tax-exempt funds were used in various illegal schemes that might have integrated:
(1) money laundering,
(2) tax evasion (stolen money is taxable),
(3) violations of US banking and currency laws,
(4) conspiracy to commit wire fraud,
(5) commercial bribery in various financial schemes,
(6) establishing secret offshore bank accounts outside the purview of the IRS and US banking laws,
(7) fraudulent and casual accounting practices,
(8) non-existent financial oversight,
(9) having a hidden financial interest in companies doing business with SPLC,
(10) putting phantom employees on the payroll (money laundering).
Keep in mind that the extent of the graver violations, in connection with fraudulent uses of tax-exempt monies for personal and political purposes that might include:
felony charges for first-degree tampering with public records, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, fourth-degree grand larceny, first-degree falsifying of business records, defrauding the government, and colluding with publicly-funded agencies to conduct illegal activities by engaging in the facilitation of illegal conversions and currency frauds.
Falsifying tax-exempt records for the purposes of money-laundering, offering false instruments for filing, and engaging in mail and computer fraud, illegal structuring of cash transactions and collusion in multiple conspiracies, are part and parcel of these frauds.
"Tampering With a Record or Otherwise Impeding an Official Proceeding" makes it a crime for any person to corruptly alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal any document with the intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding or to otherwise obstruct, influence or impede any official proceeding. Individuals involved in such acts are liable for up to 20 years in prison and a fine.
According to the IRS, the biggest tax-exempt fraud is N/P's writing checks to another N/P in order to siphon off tax-exempt monies for personal use.
BOOKMARKED!!!
BTT
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.