The list of items available at auction through the U.S. Department of the Treasury reads like a wish list of the rich and famous:
- 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera
- 18 K YG cuff links with diamonds
- 60″ LG Plasma TV
- Louis Vuitton Leather Briefcase
- Gucci Sunglasses
- 14KW 7.5″ length gold chain with 126 Full Cut Diamonds
- 18KW Rolex watch
- Flight helmet (yes, flight helmet)
And there’s lots more where that came from.
The Department of Treasury holds approximately 300 public auctions per year throughout the U.S. to sell property which has been seized or forfeited as a result of violations of federal laws or nonpayment of federal taxes. Those auctions include not only luxury goods but also real estate, clothes and industrial or farming equipment.
The items up for public bid – which can be new or used – are the result of seizures and forfeitures by the Treasury Department or related government agencies. The idea is to take away the ill-gotten goods from the bad guys. In other words, the government removes “crime and other assets relied upon by criminals and their associates to perpetuate their criminal activity.” In addition to being punitive (who wants their stuff taken away?), forfeiture has the power to permanently disrupt or dismantle crime rings. Bonus to taxpayers? The proceeds flow back to the Treasury.
Forfeitures aren’t meant to cover the cost of fines, restitution or other penalties imposed by the Court. Of course, that makes sense: it wouldn’t do to allow defendants to pay the price for their crimes with the very assets they stole or otherwise illegally obtained.
Maurice Larry knows this firsthand. The boyfriend (or not, depending on who you ask) of the “Queen of IRS Tax Fraud” took a plea for his role in a criminal tax identity theft scheme thought to have bilked the government out of between $3 and $20 million before the feds caught up to them. Larry was busted with friends in a Howard Johnson hotel room using laptop computers and free hotel wi-fi to electronically file false tax returns using Turbo Tax.
Notwithstanding the potential embarrassment of being caught in a Howard Johnson (really, not even a Marriott?) doing taxes (hardly a good story to exchange in prison), Larry lost a lot more than his dignity. He agreed, with his plea, to forfeit the gains from his role in the theft. Those assets included not only the very laptops that Larry and other defendants purchased to pursue their scheme but also cash withdrawn from ATMs using debit cards loaded with false refunds. He also had to agree to give up two 2010 Chevy Camaros; a 1986 Monte Carlo and a 2011 TAO MC silver motor scooter.
But the asset that commanded the most attention was Larry’s chrome-wrapped 2011 Chevrolet “King” Camaro.
The car was customized to impress, as documented here by Riding Clean Magazine and highlighted for a time on their Facebook page:
The car featured a red leather interior, 48 speakers, five flat screen TVs and 32-inch Forgiato wheels (the kind sported on the likes of Chris Brown’s BMW, Akon’s Lamborghini, Steve Novak’s Mercedes, and Will.I.Am’s Bentley). It was made to attract attention – and it certainly did.
A new Camaro starts at around $25,000. A fully loaded and customized Camaro like this one can command several times that price. And that’s good for taxpayers in this case. Larry loaded up debit cards with stolen tax dollars – and remember, those dollars often get paid twice: once when the refunds are stolen and again when the real taxpayer may be due a refund. The more assets that were retrieved and sent back to the Treasury, the better.
As for Wilson? She also lost a number of assets including her 2013 Audi A8, purchased for $90,000; before she lost it, she only drove it a few thousand miles. She’s not doing any driving now as she waits out her 21 year sentence in federal prison.
So how much do these kind of programs actually recover for taxpayers? For the calendar year 2012, total net deposits were a whopping $4,221,909,505. Nearly 3/4 of those ($3,041,258,988) were attributable to New York – which you might have expected – with the second largest deposits ($505,209,656) attributable to the tiny state of Rhode Island – which you probably didn’t expect. Also near the top? California, Texas, Massachusetts and Illinois.
That’s a pretty impressive chunk of change, but it’s likely the tip of the iceberg.
What can taxpayers do to avoid becoming a victim of these thieves? Click here for some tips to protect yourself from ID theft.
