'Girls Gone Wild' founder's lawsuit is an indictment of an 'IRS Gone Wild' LOS ANGELES, July 31
LOS ANGELES, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Joe Francis, the founder of the
"Girls Gone Wild" video series and CEO of Mantra Films, filed a fraud lawsuit
late Thursday against Michael Barrett, the former Mantra Films corporate
accountant, in the Santa Monica division of Los Angeles Superior Court.
The lawsuit alleges that Barrett, also a certified public accountant,
failed his fundamental duties and tasks to Francis as the corporate accountant
for Francis. According to the suit, Barrett knew there were mistakes in tax
returns, returns he knew were based on his accounting ledgers he prepared,
created and vouched for. Barrett never disclosed these mistakes to his client
and outside tax CPAs, despite knowing both relied upon him. Barrett then later
demanded a bounty for the mistakes he failed to disclose to his client,
seeking IRS action against Francis so that Barrett could make millions of
dollars under a little-known and controversial IRS informant bounty program.
http://www.irs.gov/foia/article/0,,id=132336,00.html
"IRS informant rules permit a CPA who actually plans and initiates the tax
return mistakes to still collect the tax informant reward, which in this case
could go as high as $10,000,000," said Robert Bernhoft, the attorney for
Francis. Bernhoft added: "If the case goes criminal, the tax rat gets even
more. Outraged American taxpayers should demand an immediate end to this
IRS-Gone-Wild program."
Francis was recently arraigned in Los Angeles federal court on tax evasion
charges. Bernhoft and Robert Barnes, both of the firm Bernhoft Law, represent
Francis in the civil suit against Barrett and the federal criminal tax case
against Francis.
According to the IRS's own informant rules:
(http://www.irs.gov/compliance/article/0,,id=181290,00.html)
"A finding of fraud in a tax case carries some significant additional
implications for penalties, fines and jail time. In the context of
whistleblower claims, it also has statute of limitations implications that can
make a big difference for the whistleblower."
"If the whistleblower planned and initiated the actions that led to the
underpayment of tax, or the violation of the internal revenue laws, the award
may be reduced."
ABOUT BERNHOFT LAW
Bernhoft Law is one of the nation's leading boutique law firms
specializing in complex litigation in federal criminal and civil courts and
international asset fraud recovery. Robert Bernhoft and Robert Barnes of the
firm obtained felony acquittals for the actor Wesley Snipes. Mr. Bernhoft also
previously obtained acquittals on all felony counts for former IRS
investigator Joe Bannister (a trial memorialized in Pulitzer Prize-winning
David Cay Johnston's "Perfectly Legal").
Bernhoft Law has offices in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Malibu, California.
Website: http://www.bernhoftlaw.com
http://www.meetjoefrancis.com/irsgonewild
SOURCE Bernhoft Law
