Tax Cheat Escapes $100 Million Repayment

By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer

March 27, 2007, 6:54 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Poorly written Justice Department documents cost the
federal government more than $100 million in what was supposed to have
been the crowning moment of the biggest tax prosecution ever.

Walter Anderson, the telecommunications entrepreneur who admitted
hiding hundreds of millions of dollars from the IRS and District of Columbia
tax collectors, was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in prison and ordered
to repay about $23 million to the city.

But U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said he couldn't order Anderson
to repay the federal government $100 million to $175 million because the
Justice Department's binding plea agreement with Anderson listed the
wrong statute.

Friedman said he could have worked around that problem by ordering
Anderson to repay the money as part of his probation. But prosecutors
omitted any discussion of probation -- a common element of plea deals
-- from Anderson's paperwork.

LinkHere