Man Indicted for Filing Liens on IRS

A California man has been indicted by a Las Vegas grand jury for filing false liens against employees of the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

The grand jury indicted Thanh Viet Jeremy Cao, a resident of Orange County, Calif., but the court has not yet set a trial date.

According to the indictment, Cao filed 22 false liens in public records in Nevada against the federal officials and employees, as well as false liens against four federal judges. According to the indictment, the false liens ranged from $25 million to $300 million.

The indictment further alleges that Cao corruptly obstructed the administration of the federal tax laws, by, among other things, filing retaliatory false liens against IRS employees, filing and attempting to file with the IRS false Forms 1099-OID (Original Issue Discount) that claimed fictitious income tax withholdings, filing and attempting to file false tax returns that claim fraudulent refunds totaling approximately $20 billion, and preparing at least five false tax returns for third parties that claimed fraudulent income tax refunds totaling in excess of $1.1 million based upon fictitious income tax withholdings.

If convicted, Cao faces a maximum of 223 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5.75 million.

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