Category Archives: Tax Evasion

Recap and Announcement

Updated: Feb 2016:  forgot to provide the new website mentioned below.  It is www.testingmaryland.com  Please visit, and let us know what you think.

 

This site was dedicated to learning about and exploring the truth concerning one person’s experience with another. The site expanded in ways that we didn’t originally plan for, and it wasn’t long before we outgrew the original intent while simultaneously reaching our goal. This site focused on one person, and what they were able seemingly able to achieve.

We originally sought to explore the following with our Pisces, Gail R. Proctor:

Here are the posts that have been done, that address each of the subject areas.

It all surfaced on mortgage applications for houses that were secretively in bankruptcy:

http://www.tocatchafish.net/being-stuck-in-fraud/

 

Which led to the REAL fake husband of Ms. Gail Renai Proctor’s that appears to be:  http://www.tocatchafish.net/bah-fraud-solve/

 

Which led to finding this:

http://www.tocatchafish.net/she-claims-she-is-married/

http://www.tocatchafish.net/mr-black-will-be-turning-60/

 

Is there disability fraud going on?

http://www.tocatchafish.net/maryland_and_full_disability/

 

False claims of Florida residency in order to avoid paying Maryland taxes

http://www.tocatchafish.net/maryland-tax-evasion/

 

Continuing to operate a business in Maryland without paying its MD personal property tax or filing a company tax returns with IRS

http://www.tocatchafish.net/md_corp_fraud/

 

Making false statements in order to try to quiet someone who knows your Federal fraud:

http://www.tocatchafish.net/pretend_victim/

 

Committing Bankruptcy fraud (same old pattern of fraudulent statements):

http://www.tocatchafish.net/bankruptcy-fraud/

 

The original questions we sought to answer were:

1) How easy is it for someone to defraud the Federal Government for years undetected?

2) Is it possible for someone to create a person out of thin air and get financial benefit from it for years?

3) Can a person take paperwork from a Federal agency, and submit an altered version of it to a related State agency, undetected, and get financial benefit?

4) Can a person claim a disability that doesn’t exist, and get paid for it?

5) How easy is it to conceal assets, stockpile money and give false statements on your Federal bankruptcy schedules under the alleged “penalty of perjury”?

6) How easy is it to claim that you live in a State that has no income taxes, in order to avoid paying taxes in another State where you do live (that has taxes)?

 

Clearly, the problem isn’t just the person who is doing the acts, but the people who help enable it and the systems that allow it. Hence, the creation of a new site with a new purpose! Stay tuned as we finalize that site and its’ contents. We will make the announcement on this one, and link the two of them together.

Disability Fraud Of Maryland Vets Exposed

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In this post, we are going to talk about a case of VA benefits fraud and illegal tax breaks in Maryland. The backdrop for this is the story that broke a few months ago concerning six veterans who were found to be receiving “agent orange” benefits as well as MD state tax waivers fraudulently. Apparently, the Deputy Chief of Claims at the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs, David Clark, was helping vets to get these illegal benefits by falsifying their records and amending them to back up claims. He was receiving a cut of the illegally obtained money as payment for services rendered. Apparently, since Mr. Clark knew what was needed in order that the claims would sail through, his position of authority made it easier for the fraud to go undetected until now.

The story that we’ve attached also references the use of “using counterfeit DOD forms to change service.. records.”, and another story about Clark referenced below indicates that he also submitted false doctor’s letters regarding illnesses. Apparently, Mr. Clark also changed paperwork to place medical diagnoses on them that didn’t actually exist.

The story also references the claim that there are too many claims being processed “..to be able to double-check the accuracy of information..” submitted on them. It is also noted that “outdated systems make it more difficult to catch schemes and people.” It looks to us to be yet another case of people and agencies relying on the moral integrity and honesty of the people giving information.

We think that they should check the Maryland disability claims that were processed in Maryland after the date that Mr. Clark submitted one fraudulently for himself: 2001.

On another blog site that we found that is also chatting about this story, there are people who have commented about things such as:

Being able to “forge a DD-214”

“There is no doubt that a DD-214 and other discharge paperwork, even orders could be forged.”

“I would not be surprised if 10% or more of the VA’s budget goes to pay for compensation, medical care, etc . . . , that’s based on fraudulent claims.”

“They don’t seem to cross-check this against official records at NPRC and/or the services.”

“To be fair, virtually ANY document, paper or electronic, can be forged if the forger is determined enough.”

That site can be found HERE

One of the best suggestions made by someone on that site, is that the Vet should be asked to “..fill out and sign a SF180 giving you access to his records.” In the case of medical records while in the military, you would need the vet’s written permission to access them. You won’t need their written permission in order to get their exit/discharge order. You will clearly be able to see on it, if they were really discharged for medical reasons as they are claiming, or perhaps just “retired”. This would go a long way to catch those who are attempting to commit fraud for personal financial gain.

It would appear that one of our site’s question of “Can a person claim a disability that doesn’t exist, and get paid for it?” has been answered in the affirmative. Stay tuned. We will report the other stories that are bound to surface related to issues such as this. Keep going, US Attorney Rod Rosenstein!!

The Baltimore Sun story is below:

Download (PDF, 46KB)

The other Sun story is linked HERE

IS Maryland Missing More Money?

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All homeowners in Maryland are assessed a tax on their property every year. The SDAT website has this to say about the property tax:

“Counties and cities depend on the property tax and a portion of the income tax to make up their budgets. The property tax makes up about 30% of the average county budget and over 35% of the average city budget. State government is primarily funded by the income tax and the sales tax.” You can read more by going HERE

Depending on where you live, your tax amount is calculated by taking the assessment of your home’s value and applying the tax rate to it in accordance with where the property is located. For every $100,000 that a property is valued, the taxes on it could be about $1000. So for a property valued at $300,000, it could be around $3000 per year. The actual property tax bill would give the exact numbers.

Someone asked the question on this website about Ms. Proctor’s annual property tax bill which was reading at Zero. We have to thank you for bringing this to our attention, because we too now have questions about it. How fortunate for her to not be assessed thousands of dollars each year on her house in Baltimore city. Geez, years without paying Maryland income taxes and then years of not having to pay the annual property tax bill! How much financial prosperity can one person have?

Well, it turns out that Ms. Proctor has somehow qualified for a complete exemption of her full annual property tax due to her alleged status of 100% disability. In Maryland, a veteran can get a break on their property tax bill, but not for a partial amount. Here’s what we mean: if you have a 50% disability, you won’t qualify because the State doesn’t give 50% breaks (unfortunately, we think). So for all of you veterans who have served our country and have a 25%, 50% or even a 75% service-related disability, Maryland won’t give you any tax break. Here is the actual form that the veteran has to complete:

 

Download (PDF, 137KB)

How do we know that Ms. Proctor got this 100% rating? Look no further than the courthouse mentioned extensively on this website, where you will find the document that she completed, and then search the net for confirmation. To make things easier, we’ve put them here for you. First, her completed form that she evidently submitted to the Supervisor of Assessments office:

 

Download (PDF, 177KB)

It does have a signature from Veteran’s Affairs, but through an investigation, we have learned that the Baltimore Veteran’s Affairs office used rubber stamps for the signature of “Cheryl Flohr” that you see on the form. Hmm, surely one doesn’t just need a rubber stamped signature to get a full exemption from the personal property tax do you? Well no, the form does actually state that the veteran needs to submit a copy of their DD-214 along with the form. Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Fortunately for us, we have Gail Renai Proctor’s DD-214 that was provided courtesy of a FOIA request. And here it is:

Download (PDF, 733KB)

Wait! Do you see what we see? At the bottom, in box #23? It indicates that the separation was a result of “retirement”. So, no mention in any way, shape or form of a medical discharge? No mention of anything medical except for the dental information contained in the #18 block. Surely you can’t be diagnosed as 100% disabled (and PTSD at that) as a result of some dental issue, can you?

So WHO exactly is it that would have written “post traumatic stress disorder” on that Maryland exemption form, and WHERE did they get their information?

Before you say “maybe the form wasn’t approved”, we will offer this: a link was found on the internet that takes you to the minutes for the Board of Estimates hearing that was done years ago when Proctor first requested this exemption. HERE is the link, and on page 28 you will find that “..she meets the status of a disabled individual..” according to what she provided to them. Below is the actual page.

Download (PDF, 43KB)

There must be a DD-214 that reads “medical discharge” somewhere out in the universe, though we don’t know where it would have come from. We couldn’t help but notice that box #30 of the DD-214 contained a request for a “copy” of the very form that would have needed to be submitted both to the veteran’s STATE VA office, as well as to the Maryland Assessor’s office. We assume that the tax exemption form was checked by someone at the State for accuracy, but who knows. And we assume that the Maryland VA office would have checked to ensure that the DD-214 copy that they received was the same as the one contained in the vet’s personnel records. But as usual, one and one does not equal two when we are looking at things related to the statements and finances of this fish, “under penalty of perjury”.

Note to the State of Maryland: you might want to go directly to a National Veteran’s Affairs source in order to corroborate any allegation of service-related 100% PTSD made by someone who was a “flight attendant”. You should be able to rely on the honesty of people, but some just aren’t. And a note to the US Government: unless your paperwork is inaccurate, and (if it is) her 100% PTSD rating extended back to the 90s, does it somehow explain the creation of a fictitious husband that SHE believes is real? Maybe!!

What do YOU think?

More Fraud In Maryland

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We all have other taxes to pay. Yes, there are Federal taxes to pay. And if you live in a State that has income tax, then you have those to pay as well. Usually there is also a component to your State tax that will also include a local tax, if you live in an area that has one. Those are the ones that most people know about. Today, we are going to discuss another set of taxes that exist in the State of Maryland.

One is the recordation tax that you pay when you purchase a house in Maryland. This tax is imposed along with a transfer tax, and is collected at the settlement table or by the attorney handling the transaction between a buyer and seller of real estate. The paperwork that relays all of the information related to the transfer is recorded in Land Records for the county where the property is located. The money ultimately benefits the specific county. It is therefore important that we all pay our fair share.

When a person is a first-time homeowner in Maryland, they are entitled to a significant tax break. The purpose is to encourage home purchasing and ownership, which is designed to boost the local economy by bringing tax revenue to the State and the local county. The money that is saved by designating yourself as a first-time homeowner is significant, and depends on the purchase price. For more information on the tax break, see this form:

Download (PDF, 41KB)

Though a person can and may certainly move from one house to another, you can only technically be a first-time homebuyer in Maryland ONE time. To be clear, it is certainly possible to buy a home in Maryland and then buy another house years later and opt to use the tax credit on the 2nd purchase. You just can’t do it if you already did it previously. Rather, you aren’t supposed to be able to do it. That would mean getting the credit TWICE, which was never the intention of the law that was made to provide the tax credit. Looking at the form, mention is made of a statement “under oath” that the buyer is supposed to sign stating that they meet all of the qualifications. Is it possible for someone to cheat this system?

Without oversight, it apparently CAN be done where a long-time Maryland resident purchases property and receives the tax credits TWICE. Purchase a property in 1993 as your principal residence in Prince George’s county as evidenced HERE (the reference to 13-203 on the first page refers to the credit)

 

Download (PDF, 833KB)

and then purchase a property in 2006 while attesting via affidavit that you have “…never owned in the State of Maryland residential real property that has been the undersigned’s principal residence.” Hmmm. Not entirely true, is it? Notice the “under penalty of perjury” reference? See for yourself on page 4 of the attachment below.

Attention State of Maryland: you are losing money by not having a system that checks to ensure that people are PROPERLY taking the tax credit. Is your computer software not catching it, or is there a person in each county that should be checking to verify accuracy (and honesty of purchaser) who isn’t doing it? How much money are you missing as a result? Yes, the purchaser should be a person of integrity, but when they are not, what then?

Thanks to Jerry, Henry and Margaret!

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truth not hidden

I love the movie, Jerry Maguire. He’s a sports agent, and he begins to realize that the industry that he is working in is deservedly having the reputation for dishonesty. He writes a “mission statement”, and circulates it to his co-workers in order to urge them to join him in getting back to the heart of the business (and by default, restore faith to it). He was fired, but went on to start his own agency that would operate with the principles in his mission statement. Hard-going at first, I suspect, because people were used to the way things were established by that point. Change is hard for us humans to decide to do, and even harder to actually do. In the end, due to his perseverance and insistence that “we’ll stay afloat” (things were financially tight with only one client), Jerry is able to help instill change in his client, in the perceptions of the fans (for a game), in the team owner renegotiating his client’s contract, and even in surrounding athletes who realize they are missing something with their representation. Love it, because I too believe as Margaret Mead did, that “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

To my friends, and the new ones I’ve met through this site, I so appreciate all of your contributions to the site. Moreover, I appreciate your ideas to create and formulate this site, your time spent in actually creating it, and your dedication in helping to spread awareness of activities that need to change and end.

As many of you have heard me say, the circumstances that I have found myself in for the past two years are not ones that I would have chosen for myself. They chose me. Just as my business partner chose the actions that she did, I too had a choice as to how to respond. Through her attorneys, Darlyn R. McLaughlin and David B. Shapiro in Baltimore, MD, offers were made to me to “settle” the case. In each instance, I needed no time to think about it and simply waited for them to finish offering so that I could clearly tell them “there will be NO settlement”. What people don’t understand is that settling doesn’t actually make the issue go away. It only makes it not go forward in court. Our society has gotten used to taking the perceived easy way out, the path of least resistance, and the road where you get as much as you can while doing the least amount of work. While some of my friends were of the same mindset as me (“no way, you won’t settle. you’ve done nothing wrong.”), others were growing tired of hearing of the antics and, wishing for me to get on with my life, urged me to “give her what she wants”. My views are more in line with Henry David Thoreau: “The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.” Had I settled, the things shown on this site (and the other issues that have yet to appear) would have likely forever been hidden. Not settling was not easy, but it WAS the best thing ultimately.

I have a son. Parents have the job of trying their best to raise their kids so that they will be best-equipped to handle “life” as each of us experience it. More important than the words that come out of my mouth, are the ACTIONS that he sees me do. He is watching me, whether I realize it or not, and he has been learning from me how he could (if he chooses to) maneuver in his life in the future. I have always taken that responsibility seriously. It means that I don’t just make my decisions for my own benefit, but for his future benefit as well. Life is not going to be easy for him. And the things that he will truly value, will be those things that he will find he had to work hard for (with the exception of my love, hopefully). My son will do great things in the world, because I encourage him not to take that path of least resistance. And he doesn’t see me taking it either. Not only does HE deserve that from me, but it’s also my contribution to the change I want to see in the world.

Do we live in a perfect world, with perfect people? Far from it. I’m certainly not perfect either, and have my flaws. I have been fortunate to have the family background that I had, that led me to have the strong convictions that I do about living with integrity and being a person of character who DOES SOMETHING about “wrong” when I encounter it. The personal integrity of the people featured on this website is their own to go to sleep with each night. While some talk of “Karma”, I prefer to think simply that “what goes around comes around”, and that “what has been done in the dark will be brought to the light”. To the extent that issues come that directly affect me, as the actions of my business partner, her various legal counsels and many other people yet to be featured on this site have, I have felt compelled to share the information with my friends (old and new) so that together, we can help make the change that Margaret Meade wrote about. From the comments on this site, it would appear that people are understanding that this “story” is not just mine, but belongs to you also since it ultimately is affecting you. Craftsmanship, and doing one’s job with integrity (caring enough to do so), extends far beyond the one-on-one encounter between the two initial parties of any transaction. Short cuts create inferior products. Doing just enough to get by, breeds an entitlement mentality, which leads to greed. We all end up paying more than was necessary when that happen. This site showcases that. It happens with bankruptcy fraud, tax evasion, mortgage fraud, military BAH fraud, disability fraud, false statements under penalty of perjury, witness tampering, voter registration fraud, and even marriage fraud in the “Sin City” of Vegas. There is more, thanks to all of YOUR efforts, but this list is long enough!

A girl can dream. That craftsmanship, integrity, ethics, good character, honesty and plain-old “doing the right thing even when no one else is looking”, will be the rule instead of the exception. I hope that in my son’s lifetime, he will live in a world where you don’t have to “trust but verify” in order to protect yourself. As one person commented: with patience and persistence, anything can be done. Thanks for the reminder.

In the meantime, Thoreau had it right.

A link to Jerry Maguire’s “mission statement” is HERE.

Apparently, it was inspired by a letter written by the (then-head of Disney) Jeffrey Katzenberg to his fellow execs. He left Disney 3 years later, and started Dreamworks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. Read HERE. It is long.

Avoiding Maryland Taxes With Fraud

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State taxes. Many of us have them. We try to minimize them as best we can, to keep as much money as the law will allow in our pockets. There are many ways that a person can legally write-off expenses and deductions to change AMOUNT DUE to REFUND DUE. We all pay our fair-share of these taxes, so that the streets can be paved, schools can be kept open so that kids can thrive, and community services can be maintained. These services require tax money in order to operate, and without it, budgets are cut (with services therefore cut).

For the men and women in our armed forces who legitimately claim to be domiciled in or residents of States that do not have State income tax, ‘good for you’ that you get to take advantage of this benefit. Examples of such States are:

  • Alaska
  • Florida
  • Nevada
  • South Dakota
  • Washington

For this post, we are strictly going to talk about Maryland. According to the Comptroller of Maryland website (found HERE), a person is a “resident” if:

“Your permanent home is or was in Maryland (the law refers to this as your domicile). OR your permanent home is outside of Maryland, but you maintained a place of abode (that is, a place to live) in Maryland for more than six months of the tax year. If this applies to you and you were physically present in the state for 183 days or more, you must file a full-year resident return.”

The issue of “domicile” comes into play, and fortunately, the State of Maryland issued an Administrative Release that covers the matter thoroughly. You can find that writeup by clicking HERE or by reading the PDF below:

Download (PDF, 48KB)

In the military, a person can have a legal residence, which can be different than their ‘home of record’. Home of record is where they were when they enlisted or re-enlisted, and legal residence is where they conduct business and intend to live when they retire or leave the service. It is their permanent home, demonstrated by the activities they have already conducted and continue to conduct.

According to the linked website, a person can change their legal residence by completing a DD Form 2058. On that form is that all-too-familiar wording: “I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, I have met all the requirements for legal residence or domicile in the state claimed above and that information provided is correct. I understand that the tax authorities of my former state of legal residence or domicile will be notified of this certificate.” Hmmm.

Supposedly, the military is REQUIRED to make sure that a servicemember isn’t changing their legal residence in order to avoid taxation. There are people whose jobs it is to answer such questions, when/if asked. You can see that written HERE. We found an Air Force writeup on legal residence, written by 1st Lt. Nicole Naeser that can be found HERE.

INTENT means everything, and one of the strongest ways to show it is with where you actually live and by where you register to VOTE. For those in the military, the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act allows them to do all of their residency things in the place where they have legal residence, as opposed to where they may be stationed (since that may frequently change).

So what would be the chances that 3 or more people who have ALL worked on the same Air Force base in Maryland, would ALL be registered to vote in the SAME Florida county for years? What if ALL of them owned houses in DC or Maryland, had cars registered there also, lived and worked in DC/MD, had spouses residing in DC/MD, and had DC or MD driver’s licenses the entire time?

Maryland tax evasion is a fraud of another sort, but one that will be explored via this site as additional information is obtained. Finding legitimate ways to lower your taxes is fine. CREATING a fictitious life to try to justify having NO taxes, is FRAUD (and greedy). Do YOU have information that can help? You know who we’re looking for, and you know where to cast your line if you know something that can help: fishy(at)tocatchafish.net

It is a CRIME, after all

It is a CRIME, after all