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Justice Department Sues Illinois Couple Over Tax Scheme
A suburban Chicago husband-and-wife duo faces a civil injunction suit from the U.S. Justice Department stemming from an alleged “welfare benefit plan” tax scheme. The suit, filed July 13, says the couple - Tracy and Linda Sunderlage, of Huntley, Ill. - used the scheme to help high-income business owners evade income taxes.
The couple is said to have offered the business owners plans for employee life and health insurance plans, but meanwhile, the money was funnelled into a fund for tax-free or tax-deferred income, according to the Justice Department.
SRG International U.S. LLC, Maven U.S. LLC and Randall Administration LLC also are named as defendants in the suit. Each participant’s company makes supposed tax-deductible payments for the benefit plans, which are operated by Randall and Maven, the Justice Department explains. The contributions - which amount to at least $239 million and could exceed more than $300 million - were allegedly transferred to an Anguilla company, where they were invested until the owner ended the benefits program and received the assets for their personal use.
The Justice Department’s tax division says that in the past decade, it has obtained hundreds of injunctions against promoters of such tax schemes and preparers of fraudulent tax returns.