U.S. marshals arrested a Battle Creek, Mich., man for refusing to release the names of the clients that he provided with income tax advice.Charles Conces, who was a candidate for Michigan Attorney General last year, was arrested earlier this month for civil contempt after he failed to comply with a Feb. 8 court order. The order had also compelled Conces to disclose the identities of the people who are responsible for his Web site, as well as any documents that he drafted, or assisted in drafting -- all of which Conces refused to do.
In April 2006, the court permanently enjoined Conces and his organization, the National Lawman Committee for the Public Interest, from preparing tax returns for others and promoting several tax fraud schemes. According to the court, Conces promoted “tax evasion by creating and selling materials designed to obstruct the administration of the income tax laws.”
At the time, the court said that Conces was promoting the use of the so-called “zero return,” wherein a taxpayer reports no income based on the frivolous argument that income is not taxable under the income tax laws. It’s one of the scams that regularly appears on the Internal Revenue Service’s annual “Dirty Dozen” list -- which compiles what the agency refers to as, “the most blatant tax return scams.”
Conces report to the U.S. marshal on March and was taken into custody. According to the court’s order, Conces will remain in the custody of the marshals until he discloses both the the identities and documents.
