The US Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service have arrested telecom businessman Walt Anderson on charges of failing to pay $200 million in federal and local taxes. In the late 1990s Anderson led a team that tried to lease the Russian Space Station Mir and operate it as a commercial station.
According to the DoJ indictment Walter Anderson concealed more than $500 million in personal income earned through businesses conducted via offshore operations designed to hide his association in the transactions. Anderson was arrested Saturday while arriving at Washington's Dulles airport.
The IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said the charges marked the largest criminal tax case against a single individual.
Anderson began a telecommunications business in the early 1990s as the previously highly regulated sector was being opened up to competition flowing from new technologies and applications.
The indictment alleges that he formed offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands and Panama to hide taxable income generated from company mergers.
"Honest taxpayers deserve the assurance that those who willfully dodge their tax obligations will be investigated, prosecuted and punished," said Assistant Attorney General Eileen O'Connor.
US Federal laws require that all US citizens report their earnings and pay taxes. The indictment charged that Anderson claimed to be a resident of Florida when he lived at two homes in Washington, D.C., and that he owes $170 million in federal taxes and $40 million in local income taxes.
