The Justice Department on Friday sued Roger Stone alleging nearly $2 million in unpaid tax bills that date back more than a decade. The lawsuit is the latest legal battle for the longtime ally of former President Donald Trump who was convicted of obstructing Congress and pardoned by Trump late last year.
The filing was made in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and says that the Trump ally and his wife, Nydia Stone, owe $1,590,361 in unpaid income taxes, penalties, and interest for tax years 2007 to 2011. It further states that a tax bill from 2007 , accruing interest and late fees, had become a behemoth bill of nearly half a million dollars.
The lawsuit argues that the couple used a commercial entity known to “shield their personal income from enforced collection and fund a lavish lifestyle despite owing nearly $2 million in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties.”
The Justice Department asserts in the lawsuit that the Stones deposited vast sums of their assets to the “alter ego” commercial entity, Drake Ventures, instead of personal accounts, in an effort to defraud the government.
“The Stones intended to defraud the United States by maintaining their assets in Drake Ventures’ accounts, which they completely controlled, and using these assets to purchase the Stone Residence in the name of the Bertran Trust,” it says.
According to the lawsuit, the Stones created and controlled the trust and used money from Drake Ventures to purchase a Fort Lauderdale condominium in its name.
“The Stones were in substantial debt to the United States at the time of the transfer, rendering them insolvent at the time of the transfer and unable to pay their debt to the United States,” the filing alleges, calling the transfer to Betran Trust fraudulent.
The government also says in the lawsuit that the Stones had entered into an agreement to pay tax debts in monthly installments of nearly $20,000. The agreement was terminated when the couple stopped making payments after purchasing the Fort Lauderdale property in March 2019.
The filing also alleges that in 2018, Stone filed his federal income tax return as “a married individual filing separately from his spouse” and had not paid off the taxes he reported. According to the lawsuit he now owes an additional $407,036 for that year.
Stone, who was pardoned by Trump last year, briefly served as the former president’s campaign adviser and claimed on Friday that he was the target of “politically motivated charges.”
“This is yet another example of the Democrats weaponizing the Justice Department in violation of the rule of law,” Stone said in an emailed statement to NBC News. “I will fight these politically motivated charges and I will prevail again.”
