Lawyer's trial on IRS charges under way
By Kathy Lynn Gray
Waving a single slice of bread, defense attorney Dennis A. Lieberman said the government’s case against his client is that thin.
Pulling out the rest of the bread, he urged a federal jury to concentrate on the whole loaf as it considers the fate of Worthington attorney Aristotle “Rick” R. Matsa.
His trial began in front of U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. in Columbus on Monday and is expected to last as long as five weeks.
Legal wrangling has repeatedly postponed the trial. Seven years ago, the Internal Revenue Service began investigating Matsa in connection with his Short North law practice, his architectural firm and other businesses he ran.
A federal grand jury indicted him in 2009 and 2010 on charges of obstructing justice and IRS laws, witness tampering, tax fraud and conspiracy. The IRS has not released a total tax-loss amount for the case.
Today, tax preparer Joseph Merrelli testified that Matsa paid no taxes during most of the more than 20 years that Merrelli prepared his returns. Merrelli said Matsa provided his income, deductions and other tax information over the phone during all but one year and did not provide documentation for the information.
He said Matsa used losses from his businesses and rental properties to offset declared income. Merrelli said he dropped Matsa as a client in 2002 because he believed he was lying about his finances.
Matsa’s first wife, Stephanie Brooks, also testified. During the nearly two years they were married in 1984 and 1985, her husband did not allow her to have bank accounts in her name and was secretive about the couple’s finances, she said.
“The only way I could have any money was to ask Rick for some,” Brooks said. She said before they married he had her sign a prenuptial agreement and “about 10” documents she didn’t read that contained numerous blank sections.
“He said, ‘If you love me, you’ll sign them,’” she testified.
Federal charges say that Matsa changed names on bank accounts to disguise income and assets and thus avoid paying income taxes for all but one year from 1993 to 2002.
Matsa also is accused of setting up trusts and paying trust interest to individuals or accounts outside the country to avoid paying U.S. income tax.
Investigators said that he withheld records from the grand jury, lied to the grand jury and to investigators, and convinced other grand-jury witnesses to lie.
If convicted, Matsa, of Park Overlook Drive, could be sentenced to 90 years in prison, ordered to pay back taxes and fined $5 million.
Matsa’s mother, Loula Z. Matsa of Worthington, was indicted and charged in 2010 with one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. She’s being tried jointly with her son.
Matsa’s former law-firm colleague, George Z. Pappas of Urbana in Champaign County, pleaded guilty in 2010 to making a false statement to the government. Pappas admitted during a hearing that he had lied to the grand jury about Matsa and Matsa’s law firm.
Maria Galloway, who runs a Short North art gallery, pleaded guilty in December to lying to government investigators and a federal grand jury about dealings with Matsa.
Galloway has rented space at 726 N. High St. from Matsa since she opened the gallery in 1980. Matsa’s law offices were in the same building.
Investigators said that Galloway and Matsa agreed in 2006 to lie to IRS agents and to the grand jury about who owned the building and Matsa’s law firm and about tax returns and other documents Galloway signed.
No comments:
Post a Comment