DOJ runs the Al Capone tactic on Roger Stone

The Justice Department filed a civil suit on Friday against Roger J. Stone, one of former President Donald J. Trump’s most visible allies, for failure to pay nearly $2 million in federal income taxes.

The department said in its complaint, which also covered interest and other penalties, that the Treasury Department had notified Mr. Stone and his wife, Nydia Stone, that they had an unpaid tax liability, but that they had “failed and refused to pay.”

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Mr. Stone said in a statement on Friday evening that he and his wife worked to pay off their tax bill until the Russia investigation “financially destroyed” them, and that they are now “virtually bankrupt.”

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He said he would fight the case, and he asked the public to support his legal defense fund.

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The lawsuit alleges that from 2007 to 2011, and again in 2018, Mr. Stone, his wife and their investment entities failed to pay income tax on properties they held.

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 income that belongs to the Stones and pay their personal expenses,” the complaint says.

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In 2018 and 2019, Mr. Stone fraudulently transferred a total of $1 million in assets to accounts held by Drake Ventures, according to the complaint.

The Stones are also accused of using Drake Ventures to pay associates, relatives and others without providing required tax forms.

After Mr. Stone was indicted in 2019 in connection with the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian election interference, he and his wife created the Bertran Trust, the complaint said, and then used the trust to buy their house with their own assets in an attempt to hide it from the government.

The statute of limitations on tax crimes is generally 10 years from the date that a tax bill is assessed. But the lawsuit includes older tax infractions allegedly committed by the Stones because in May 2017, the couple began to negotiate a payment plan with the I.R.S., agreeing to pay $19,485 a month toward their unpaid taxes.

They made those payments from a Drake Ventures account, the government said.

  NYT