Internal Revenue Service

Are The Feds Unfairly Targeting Muslim Students Who Oppose Israel?

In Washington D.C. today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened a probe of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), following reports that the IRS was unfairly targeting conservative non-profit groups affiliated with the Tea Party movement. Closer to home, the California chapter of the Counc ... More >>

A Question of Identity

Which accused LA crime figure is a friend of a friend of ex-Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley?

Michael D. Drobot-Owned Pacific Hospital and Pharmacy Raided by Feds Suspecting Fraud

Federal agents recently raided Industrial Pharmacy Management LLC in Newport Beach and Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, which are companies owned by Michael D. Drobot, who is suspected of workers compensation fraud.A sealed grand jury affidavit cleared the way for last week's searches by FBI, I ... More >>

Operation Stolen Treasures

Amid the nation's economic meltdown, financial-conspiracy theories fueled a tax-fraud case for the ages

Orange County Defense Contractor Punished For Repeatedly Cheating IRS

An Orange County businessman whose company has supplied small electronic airplane parts for C5 cargo planes and F18 Fighter jets has been punished for repeatedly cheating on this federal income taxes.According to court records inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana, 69-year-old Sha ... More >>

Kickstarter Bands: Can Uncle Sam Touch Your Money?

By: Tessa StuartBoy band Allstar Weekend are Poway's answer to One Direction. The San Diego county-bred group got its start on the Disney Channel music competition Next Big Thing back in 2009. They took second place on that show, but the exposure helped the band ink a four-album deal with Hollyw ... More >>

4 Orange Countians Tied to Excel Investments Arrested for Alleged 3-State Condo Bailout Scam

The feds have arrested five people, including four from Orange County, for allegedly pulling a "builder bailout" real estate scam that fraudulently purchased more than 100 condos around the country with mortgages that mostly went into default. The scheme, which was operated out of Excel Investme ... More >>

Meet California's Luckiest IRS Tax Cheat: Dennis O. Brown

At least in two respects, Dennis O. Brown is a lucky Californian.Brown wanted to steal $492,142 from the federal treasury and has a younger brother, Edmund, who was dumb enough to file a fraudulent 2008 federal income tax return in his own name for that amount.The plot might have worked if it hadn't ... More >>

Safieh Fard, Who Copped to Family Mortgage Scam Then Withdrew Plea, is Found Guilty

A year ago, jewelry store owner Safieh Fard did something her sister and two of her sons did the year before: plead guilty in Santa Ana federal court to charges related to mortgage scams the family pulled with Newport Beach oceanfront properties for years. But heading into sentencing, the then-50-ye ... More >>

Calvary Chapel to Screen Anti-Obama Docu 2016: Obama's America Tomorrow, Spits on Separation of Church and State

You gotta hand it to Calvary Chapel. They have long claimed that they're above worldly matters, that they only care about the End Times and Rapture--and that's why they're more than happy to stick their nose into worldly affairs, whether it's school districts wanting to issue domestic-partner benefi ... More >>

Cindy Ann Su'a, Manager for Reeling Anaheim Police Union, Accused of Embezzling $360k

They say a couple that strays together, stays together.Cindy Ann and John Su'a, both 46 of Whitter, face arraignment Thursday at the Santa Ana Jail: she for allegedly embezzling $360,000 as the Anaheim Police Association office manager, and he for supposedly--and willfully--failing to file tax retur ... More >>

Michael L. Putnam Gets Year in Prison and Must Pay $13 Million for Hiding Funds from IRS

A former Huntington Beach man was one of two people sentenced in federal court today for hiding money that came from a foreign currency trading fund that operated like a Ponzi scheme. Michael L. Putnam, a 68-year-old who now calls St. George, Utah, home, was sentenced to 12 months and a day in priso ... More >>

Taqueria Tapatia Owner Shien Wong Sentenced For IRS Evasion

The owner of two popular Santa Ana restaurants has been placed on two years of federal probation after admitting that he tried unsuccessfully to trick the Internal Revenue Service on $16,000.Shien Wong--a native of Taiwan and owner of Taqueria Carniceria Tapatia and Taqueria Tapatia--was arrested by ... More >>

IRS Nabs Costa Mesa Tax Preparer For Claiming False Deductions

Based on an Internal Revenue Service investigation and a 50-count federal grand jury indictment issued this week, authorities today arrested a Costa Mesa tax preparer in Prescott, Arizona.Ronald Vernon Strawn, 67, will face charges that he fraudulently prepared income tax forms that focused on manuf ... More >>

Costa Mesa's "Sal the 1040 Gal" Gets Nailed For Skimming Tax Refunds From Clients

​You have to give Sally Louise Crystal big points for audacity.While on criminal probation for stealing more than $6,800 from a roommate, Crystal (AKA Sally Hernandez or, her professional nickname, "Sal the 1040 Gal") operated a brazen income tax preparation scam in Costa Mesa that ripped off her ... More >>

[UPDATED with Widow's Comments:] Ezequiel Garcia is Killed and Kevin Kozak Wounded in Shootings at ICE Offices

​UPDATE, FEB. 20, 2:30 P.M.: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Ezequiel Garcia was asking for a transfer to be closer to his Murrieta home before Thursday evening's shootings that left Garcia dead and his supervisor Kevin Kozak wounded, the deceased's widow tells KCAL/Channel 9 News. ... More >>

Feds Bust Alleged Internet Auto/Boat Sales Scam By Russians

​The U.S. Department of Justice in Los Angeles announced this afternoon that a federal grand jury has indicted six foreign nationals--including one in Costa Mesa--for operating an Internet-based sales scam that allegedly defrauded more than $4.2 million from unsuspecting shoppers since 2007.Accord ... More >>

Glen Justice, Local Oncologist, Sentenced to 18 Months For Health Care Fraud

​An Orange County oncologist, whose fraudulent health care schemes caused losses of up to $1 million, was sentenced to a year-and-a-half in federal prison yesterday.In a precious paradigm of irony, the 66-year-old doctor who pleaded guilty to five counts of health care fraud is named Glen Justice. ... More >>

Dana Rohrabacher Co-Sponsors Bill Saving Pot Clubs Cash

​Everybody's favorite surfing congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, (R-Surf City), has co-authored legislation on Capitol Hill that would save medical marijuana dispensaries untold thousands of dollars per year in tax charges. We heard this amazing news courtesy of our Bay Area sister paper, the SF Weekl ... More >>

Shelly S. Singhal, Newport Beach Broker, Faces Second Fraud and Conspiracy Indictment in 2 Years

​A Chinese media company, a Utah entrepreneur and a Newport Beach brokerage firm owner who was indicted last year on conspiracy and securities and mail fraud charges are at the center of a new federal case alleging conspiracy, mail fraud and lying.Supplying the local hook is Shelly S. Singhal, 43, ... More >>

Loretta Sanchez Seeks Faster IRS Review of Orange County Pension Plan Changes

​Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) is calling on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to expedite Internal Revenue Service review of Orange County's proposed changes to its employee pension program--not because she believes the IRS will expose flaws but because she's kinda sorta for it and kin ... More >>

Jinan Montecristo of Les Amis, Part Two

Photo by Todd BarnesJinan Montecristo and husband, Juan Carlos​ Today we continue our Q&A with Jinan Montecristo of Les Amis in Fullerton, a Lebanese restaurant she, her husband and her parents co-own together and have built up a faithful following of toum-loving diners. Stay tuned for a re ... More >>

Feds See a Red Door, Want to Paint It Black

​When Mick Jagger saw a red door, he wanted to paint it black, as is widely acknowledged (by me) in the greatest Rolling Stones song of all time (any girl who claims otherwise gets cut!).So, the federal investigation of the San Gabriel Valley-based Red Door gang--which just ... More >>

Thanh Viet Jeremy Cao Indicted for Allegedly Filing Tax Liens Against Fed Officials, Tax Returns With $20 Billion in Refunds for Himself

​A Rancho Santa Margarita man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas, where he also lives, for allegedly filing 22 false liens ranging from $25 million to $300 million against four federal judges and employees of the IRS, Secret Service, Securities and Exchange Commission and the ... More >>

TONIGHT: LMFAO at Sutra Lounge

​If you still have any money left over over after paying the IRS (or maybe you're one of the lucky ones who got some cash back), we suggest you get your ass over to Sutra tonight for LMFAO. Make sure to practice your drunk face before you go.

[¡Ask a Mexican!] Wedding-Bell Azules

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 t ... More >>

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 crusade ... More >>

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 alw ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 repeate ... More >>

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-pa ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 s ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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

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

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

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

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†... More >>

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 t ... More >>

Hearing Voices

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

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 alo ... More >>

Live Free Now

Ask me how: Talking taxes and trilaterals in Irvine

Taxing Daze

Life, the universe, and everything

Todays Special

Tax Shelters, Riding Crops and Grand Marnier

Dining With the Swells at Gemmells in Dana Point

A Nation of Consumers

From global foolishness to microimperialism, the rich own you. And you like it that way

Tax day: A Diary of My Pain