U.S. sues 2 county men over alleged tax schemes

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Two Snohomish County men associated with anti-government religious organizations were sued Tuesday by the federal government to halt alleged tax fraud schemes and stop encouraging people to avoid paying federal income taxes.

The Department of Justice also sued several organizations associated with Glen Stoll of Edmonds and Michael Stevens of Everett.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, seeks a permanent injunction to keep the defendants from selling or promoting any trust, tax shelter or plan that encourages or “assists taxpayers to attempt to violate internal revenue laws” or evade tax liabilities.

Among other things, the suit seeks a ban on “promoting the false and frivolous position that federal income taxes can be legally reduced or eliminated by using ‘corporation sole’ and ‘ministerial trusts’ to shelter income.”

The lawsuit claims that Stoll and Stevens are former associates of John and Candace Sinclair of Kirkland, who are defendants in a similar government lawsuit filed in January.

Tuesday’s complaint alleges that Stoll, Stevens and their companies sold fraudulent ministerial trust schemes. They falsely told customers that conducting their personal and business activities through the so-called trust would eliminate their obligation to pay taxes, the suit says.

The men helped customers transfer their income to offshore bank accounts, according to the complaint. Customers then received access to their money by using credit cards connected to those accounts, but didn’t report the money as income on their tax returns, the suit says.

They allegedly charged customers at least $4,000 to take part in the scheme.

Defendant organizations run by Stoll and Stevens include Nonprofit Commercial Enterprises, the Firm Foundation, Ecclesiastical Enterprises, Family Defense League and Remedies at Law.

The complaint says that the defendants market their program through a Web site and falsely claimed to be lawyers.

Stoll is named in Washington Secretary of State Office records as the director of the Firm Foundation, an organization whose preamble rejects “the laws of any secular state on Earth.” Stevens is listed as the organization’s registered agent.

Stoll also has been involved with the Embassy of Heaven, an anti-government religious organization based in Sublimity, Ore., the suit says.

In the 1990s, Stoll was a father’s rights activist best known for his support in 1993 of Franklin Larry Carrico, a child rapist who was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Stevens could not be reached for comment. Stoll did not return requests for comment.

Stopping the promotion of tax scams and taking action against those involved are high priorities for the tax division of the Justice Department, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Eileen O’Connor said in a statement.

“Law-abiding taxpayers deserve the assurance that their competitors and neighbors are also paying what the law requires,” O’Connor said.

The lawsuit seeks a court order directing the defendants to give the Justice Department the names, postal and e-mail addresses, Social Security numbers and telephone numbers of their customers.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.