Subject: Internal Revenue Service

• Corruption breeds bargains

  Tired of the way your home looks? Think a 32 ft. long Oriental rug would spruce the place up? Then tomorrow is your lucky day, because tomorrow at 9 a.m., some of felonious ex-San Diego Congressman Duke Cunningham's ill-gotten gains will be auctioned off. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune: The public can bid on his stained-glass doors, his wooden sleigh bed, his brown-and-white-marble vanity. They can bid on his brown lingerie cabinet, his washstand, his Oriental hallway rug that stretch

  March 22, 2006

• Another good reason to be rich

  Sure, there are plenty of good reasons to be rich– don't have to worry about the rising cost of living; the greater likelihood of attracting a pneumatic mate (or at least being able to afford to surgically alter your mate into a more pneumatic state, until a newer, pneumatic-er model comes along); etc., etc.– and now the Bush administration has given us one more. The rich are different from you and me, because the Bush administration doesn't particularly care whether they pay all the

  July 24, 2006

• OC Tied to Alleged Seattle IRS Scam

  The Associated Press in Seattle reported this morning that IRS agents recently busted a massive tax-shelter scheme with potential ties to Santa Ana and Fountain Valley. According to federal court documents unsealed yesterday, Robert Arant created a "warehouse bank" that allowed "people who wanted the discretion of a Swiss bank account without going to Switzerland." Arant faces angry IRS agents for allegedly helping hundreds of citizens around the country evade taxes on at least $28 million. Th

  May 2, 2007

• Wednesday's Headlines & Surprises: Exclusive Carona Wiretap Transcript!

  Carona Should Resign? Absolutely not. There is no telling which clown would takeover from the cesspool that contains Carona’s upper management. Besides, as an investigative journalist, I’d mourn the loss of a character like Mike Carona sitting atop the sheriff’s department. Sure, he’s dirty. Yes, yes, he routinely tries to use the powers of his office to frighten me. But Carona’s a guaranteed scandal maker. Last year, I dubbed him “Calamity Mike” after we obtained an audio recordi

  October 31, 2007

• Friday's Headlines & Surprises: All Big Money Issue!

  Yet Another USC Criminal: Laguna Beach billionaire Igor Olenicoff has pleaded guilty in a massive tax fraud scheme involving $346 million and Bahama bank accounts. A product of USC after fleeing the Soviet Union and Iran, Olenicoff lied to the IRS about the existence of the off shore accounts. He’ll have to pay back taxes and penalties of more than $52 million. He also faces up to three years in a federal prison, although I bet it’s a couple of months if at all. Footnote: Igor and his wif

  December 14, 2007

• OC Homewreckers Hung Out to Dry

  According to a Department of Justice press release and reported by the Register, Charles Head, a 33-year-old from La Habra and several accomplices have been charged with illegal activities purportedly using the latest mortgage scam to come through the pipeline. One can only expect more scams to surface soon in the wake of the "mortgage crisis," (otherwise known, at least by me, as the most shining contemporary example of both the greed and stupidity of the American people and the relentless

  March 25, 2008

• Tax day: A Diary of My Pain

  May 3, 2001

• Todays Special

  January 22, 2004

• Is OC GOP Shill Jon Fleischman Goofy, a Moron and a Shakedown Artist too?

  Don Haidl: Is somebody paying that goofy bastard [Jon Fleischman]? Mike Carona: Big bucks. Big bucks. You and I had a difference of opinion on him. I just think he was a moron on his best day, but . . . Well, apparently . . . (Laughs) They're willing to pay morons a lot of money because I was probably paying him when he left $90,000 a year. He made four times what I was paying him in a year, he made it in six months. And, uh, it's all through that silly ass Flash Report. He was doing consulting

  November 14, 2008

• 6 Observations about Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona's corruption trial

  1. If it's his decision to make, indicted ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, who is a superbly confident man with rare charisma, will testify in his public corruption trial. 2. Although the FBI and IRS appear to have nailed Debra V. Hoffman, Carona's top mistress, on bankruptcy fraud related charges, the case against her slightly weakened today when federal Judge Andrew Guilford severed her from the trial against Carona, the government's main target. 3. Debbie Carona, the

  December 2, 2008

• Sheriff Mike Carona Corruption Trial Quote of the Day! Part One

  "When are you going to write a positive story about Mike Carona?" --Brian A. Sun, Jones Day defense lawyer for the indicted ex-Orange County sheriff, to me in the hallway at the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana, California this morning prior to my response: "When I wouldn't have to lie." Thanks to an FBI and IRS investigation, Carona--OC's sheriff from 1999 to January 2008--is on trial for abusing his public office by accepting bribes and attempting to get a witness to lie

  December 9, 2008

• Saint Mike Carona?

  "He worked hard for you. He was a tireless worker. He worked all the time. He did great things. He helped at-risk kids and he did so much for the vulnerable people in our community." --Exasperated, red-faced lawyer Jeffrey Rawitz (pictured) wrapping up an eight hour closing argument today in his defense of Mike Carona, who faces a series of public corruption charges including bribery and witness tampering after an extensive IRS and FBI investigation into the indicted ex-Orange County sheri

  January 7, 2009

• Barbara Coe Continues To Hate Muslims--And Now, Sikhs?!

  This month's meeting of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform promises to be a blast, and not just because it's always a funhouse whenever CCIR head Barbara Coe (recently described by frequent commentator Baxter as "a spent cigarette butt with arms"--HILARIOUS) opens her gnarled mouth. Muslim activists have finally heeded our call and plan to protest Babs and her Know Nothings for their Muslim-hating ways because of the meeting's scheduled topic: "The Deadly Threat of Islam to America.

  January 14, 2009

• Nonprofits Help Low-Income Families File Tax Returns, Get Credits

  The Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove, Orange County United Way and the Legal Aid Society of Orange County have teamed to sponsor Free Community Tax Days to help families file their income taxes and claim tax credits they may not be aware they are eligible for. Particular focus will be directed at getting filers to explore their eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which is the primary anti-poverty program offered to individuals and families who meet the Internal Revenue Ser

  February 3, 2009

• The IRS Does Not Have My Stimulus Package Hanging

  With all the holler on the tee-vee about economical stimulatin', surely this email signed "Regards, Internal Revenue Service" in my junk folder is bonafide.After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment. Please submit the Stimulus Payment form in order to process it.A Stimulus Payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.To submit your Stimu

  February 13, 2009

• A Fortuitously Timed Tax-Denying Conference Comes To Our Tax-Hating County

  Man met bril / Flickr / Creative CommonsSpotted on the commute to Weekly world headquarters today: a brown Dodge pickup whose back window read, in blue electricians-tape lettering, "TAX REVOLT!" Spotted on Red County and Orange Juice Blog: recall fever against all the Republicans who supported the state's recently passed tax-hiking budget.Spotted at Irvine's Atrium Hotel from March 13 to 16: Freedom Law School's 2009 Health & Freedom Conference. The conference, which has been held in Orange

  February 26, 2009

• Welcome to the Poorhouse: Ring-Ring-Ring!

  Please do not take it personally if I do not answer the phone when you call. Bill collectors used to call my home every morning beginning at 8:30. Then it was 8 a.m. Now it can be any hour of the day. They now call my home,  my cell phone and my work lines. One called my wife's main office line, for a bill that is under my name. After she pointed that out--ripping them a new one in the process--they stopped calling her there.My cell phone's history of received calls is now a collection of a

  March 6, 2009

• Anti-Semitic KPFK "La Causa" Show Suspended, Best Buds La Voz de Aztlan and Others Whine

  Cebada, in happier times, railing against whites instead of Jews**Updated, with new info on the bottom...Oh, happy day! KPFK-FM 90.7 management has suspended the anti-Semitic hatefest called "La Causa" for six weeks for the obvious reasons, a week after the Jewish Journal published a devastating exposé of the program. I didn't find out from a KPFK statement or the JJ, though; rather, the people to break this news was the Jew-bashing, gay-trashing La Voz de Aztlan. And if there was any doubt of

  March 27, 2009

• Welcome to the Poorhouse: Ah, Tax Time

  Collectors for credit-card companies have the phone ringing off the hook, but the messages in the mailbox are worse. Other creditors, the ones not calling because they have miraculously been paid on time, inform that finance charges are being jacked up due to late payments to other creditors. Non-payment notices arrive from Edison, the water district and the county assessor, who reiterates that not only is the huge property tax bill late but so is the late charge on it, and--unless you're a seni

  April 13, 2009

• Historic $618,000 Settlement Was Money Well-Spent for Owners of Low-Income Stanton Apartment Complex

  September 4, 2008

• Controversial Philanthropist Michael Scott Kerr's New Career as a Wrapper

  August 21, 2008

• The 'Tiki FREAKout' Art Show at the Light Gallery in Costa Mesa Proves Some Styles Never Truly Die

  August 7, 2008

• The Weekly's Head Count of the 48 New Faces Who Want to Be Your Next Sheriff

  May 15, 2008

• [¡Ask a Mexican!®] Special Dia de los Impuestos Edition

  April 10, 2008

• They Got the Sheriff

  OC Sheriff Michael S. Carona’s reign has been equal parts tragedy and comedy. With his indictment, it enters its final act.

  November 1, 2007

• New Reviews

  Blades of Glory; Dating Games People Play; First Snow; Meet the Robinsons

  March 29, 2007

• Hearing Voices

  In the new Will Ferrell comedy, the truth is Stranger Than Fiction

  November 9, 2006

• Live Free Now

  March 16, 2006

• Taxing Daze

  March 9, 2006

• This Week in Full Nelsons

  February 2, 2006

• Pop Will Eat Itself

  June 9, 2005

• Call Me Back, Cupcake

  August 26, 2004

• Tax Shelters, Riding Crops and Grand Marnier

  November 27, 2003

• Randy Revolutionaries

  November 20, 2003

• The Loco-Motion

  December 5, 2002

• A Nation of Consumers

  August 2, 2001

• We Blow

  April 26, 2001

• In Praise of Faux Castrati

  March 15, 2001

• You Can't Take This With You

  April 15, 1999

• October-December

  January 7, 1999

• You Gotta Keep 'em Separated

  December 24, 1998

• Raises From The Dead

  July 24, 1997

• To The Very End, Mike Carona is a Shameless Hypocrite

  It's not a crime if the sheriff does itPlease, please, please don't punish me for my criminal activity!--The position ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona is taking with U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Guilford, who will decide on April 27 what punishment is fitting for the former top cop's repeated illegal efforts to sabotage a federal grand jury investigating corruption at the Orange County Sheriff's Department. In other words, judge, Carona doesn't want you to follow his own official campai

  April 26, 2009

• SanTana's Designated Choo-Choo Builder Cordoba As Controversy-Ridden as They Come

  Spurious GeorgeAs we predicted, Don Papi Pulido and his SanTana City Puppets rewarded Cordoba Corporation over more-qualified candidates with a contract to head a proposed streetcar project because of Cordoba head George Pla's many SanTana connections. Doug Irving of the Orange County Register had a great piece over the weekend about how SanTana officials are stonewalling his efforts to unearth public records pertaining to the $6 million contract. He also elicited a quote from Pla: Pla said his

  May 5, 2009

• Federal Panel Gives Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona Leniency

  Break out the vodka, boys!​As Orange County's Republican sheriff, Mike Carona liked to talk tough about granting no mercy to convicted felons, but ever since the ex-top cop turned convicted felon himself earlier this year he's been begging for leniency.This afternoon, the Ninth Circuit--the nation's most liberal federal appeals court--granted Carona his wish. Unlike most felons, he'll be allowed to remain free from serving his 66-month federal prison sentence until the appellate court reviews

  July 27, 2009

• Trabuco Canyon's Lila Rizk Guilty in Massive Real Estate Fraud

  ​A federal jury this afternoon convicted a licensed real estate appraiser from Trabuco Canyon of conspiracy, bank fraud and numerous loan fraud charges related to a massive mortgage fraud scheme that caused more than $40 million in losses to federally insured banks, the FBI announced.Lila Rizk, 42, had stood trial for five weeks alongside prominent Beverly Hills real estate agent Kyle Grasso,

  August 12, 2009

• Where Have All the Anti-Tax Crusaders Gone?

  When he wasn't running for governor, Fountain Valley's George "Nick" Jesson was associated with the We the People Congress, an anti-tax group that bought an ad in USA Today in 2001 challenging the government's right to tax income. Indeed, Orange County used to be crawling with anti-tax crusaders who claimed filing income tax returns was "voluntary" or "unconstitutional." Take one of their courses and they'd show you how to live tax-free. Well, the gubment shut those classes down licke

  August 20, 2009

• On the Line: Rich Mead, Chef/Owner of Sage and Sage on the Coast

  ​Three decades ago, Mead ditched his job at the IRS in Washington, DC, and moved to the west coast to pursue his culinary dreams. After opening restaurants in and around LA, he set his sights further south, launching Sage in Newport Beach in 1997. Seven years later came a posher sibling, Sage on the Coast. Mead is a fan of fresh, seasonal ingredients: If you get a chance, try his tasting menus.Here he talks about his last meal on earth--great choices!--and love-him-or-hate-him Guy Fieri (it's

  August 25, 2009

• [¡Ask a Mexican!] Wedding-Bell Azules

  September 3, 2009

• Does Miguel Pulido Work out of a Tax Preparer's Office?

  With IRS troubles like his, will Don Papi become Obama's ambassador to Mexico?For years, opponents of SanTana Mayor Don Papi Pulido have openly wondered how an invisible politician can make so much cash that he can afford an estate in the city's ritzy Floral Park neighborhood. His Form 700s have always included a grab bag of new investments, projects, and other cash inflows that the Don Papi has pursued--real-estate deals, car-related efforts, and a longstanding stint as a director of the Fuller

  June 4, 2009