Strojnik v. Costar Realty Information, Inc. et al

Filing 189

Strojnik v. Costar Realty Information, Inc. et al

Doc. 189 Att. 2

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DIANE J. HUMETEWA United States Attorney G. PATRICK JENNINGS Trial Attorney, Tax Division U.S. Department of Justice PO Box 683 Ben Franklin Station W ashington DC 20044-0683 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] [e-mail] Attorneys for the United States of America

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1. I, Calvin Byrd, declare the following: I am a Revenue Officer for the Internal Revenue Service. I am assigned to the v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, Defendants. AND CONSOLIDATED CASES GOLDEN WEST HOLDINGS TRUST; TRI-STAR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT; WILLIAM WADMAN; Plaintiffs, Case No. 05-2237 PHX SMM (LEAD) IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

DECLARATION OF REVENUE OFFICER CALVIN BYRD

above-reference case. I have 29 years of experience as a Revenue Officer. I testify of my personal knowledge. 2. On April 13, 2005, I issued numerous IRS bank levies as a result of my

investigation into a fraudulent refund scheme based on false withholding credits believed to have been carried out by William G. Wadman, V, ("Mr. Wadman") and his

Dockets.Justia.com

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related trust entities (Golden West Holdings Trust, Tri-Star Real Estate Investment Trust). 3. I confirmed IRS tax refund deposits into the following banks: Bank Deposit Amount $523,430.00 468,683.00 342,326.00

Name of Account Holder

W illiam G. Wadman Wachovia Bank Golden West Holdings Trust Sun Trust Bank Tri-Star Real Estate Investment Trust Sun Trust Bank 4.

Tracing of funds activity indicated that for the Wachovia Bank account, the

available balance thru April 6, 2005, was $440,225.57. The IRS bank levy on April 13, 2005, attached to the amount of $437,860.00, which was later paid over to the Service. 5. On April 27, 2005, Mr. Wadman received a $437,860.00 Official Check made

payable to him from the Wachovia account and deposited these monies into the JP Morgan Stanley Chase accounts of his partner and housemate, Philip R. Black. Two checks for $212,860.00 and $225,000.00, respectively, were deposited into two separate accounts held in the name of Philip R. Black. 6. Two additional deposits were made into a separate JP Morgan Stanley Chase

Active Assets Money Trust account under the name of Golden West Holdings Trust, W G Wadman & P R Black as co-trustees. The source of the initial $50,000.00 deposit on June 18, 2004, was the SunTrust Bank account in the name of Golden West Holdings Trust. 7. On April 29, 2005, Mr. Wadman wrote a check payable to him for $119,400.00

from the Golden West Holdings Trust JP Morgan Stanley account and deposited it into Philip Black's JPMC account. Mr. Wadman is not a signor on any of Philip Black's accounts with JPMC. The origin of the $119,400.00 was from the Tri-Star Real Estate Investment Trust account with Sun Trust Bank. The latter deposit activity provides further evidence of ongoing transfer activities and comingling of funds that occurred between the related entities. 8. According to my investigation and analysis of bank account information obtained

from Compass Bank, I determined that on June 3, 2005, three deposit items totaled -2-

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$553,728.15, of which $517,728 represented an incoming wire transfer into an account in the name of Atlantic Industries Corporation. The sources of the $517,728 deposit to Compass Bank was traceable directly back to funds held on deposit at JP Morgan Stanley Chase for Philip R. Black. The Compass Bank account was established on June 2, 2005, the day before the wire transfer was made. Both Mr. Wadman and Mr. Black were listed on the deposit account signature card for Atlantic Industries Corporation. 9. Atlantic Industries Corporation appears to be another nominee of Mr. Wadman.

A check of IRS records indicates that no tax returns have been filed by Atlantic Industries Corporation. 10. On June 10, 2005, Mr. Wadman withdrew funds from the Compass Bank

account in the name of Atlantic Industries Corporation totaling $389,170.02 in the form of a cashier's check payable to him. Later, on June 15, 2005, there was an outgoing wire transfer of $119,400.00 to SunTrust Bank. 11. On information obtained about the real property located at 47 West Sierra Vista

Drive, Phoenix, AZ, the purchase price was at least $945,000.00 when Mr. Wadman purchased the property on July 25, 2005. The source of the down payment was from Mr. Wadman's company, Atlantic Industries Corporation. I inspected a sampling of cancelled checks from Atlantic's Compass Bank account and the majority of the payments were for purchases and construction improvement projects related to the W est Sierra Vista Drive property. 12. On August 5, 2005, Mr. Wadman conveyed title to the West Sierra Vista Drive

property to Metropolitan Partners Southwest, LLP for no consideration. I determined that Metropolitan Partners Southwest, LLP is owned by Mr. Wadman. In a Statement of Financial Affairs document submitted by Mr. Wadman to the bankruptcy court, he noted a transfer of the same property in March 2006 from Metropolitan Partners Southwest, LLP back to W. Wadman and P. Black as tenants in common. In re William G. Wadman, V, 2:06-00819-PHX-RJH (Bankr. D. Az.). (Jennings Decl., Ex. 6, portions). I -3-

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concluded that these multiple transfers constitute a fraudulent conveyance and demonstrated Mr. Wadman's deliberate attempts to disguise and place assets beyond creditors' reach. 13. The aforementioned information has been provided to show the substantial

evidence of a close relationship that exist between Mr. Wadman and his numerous alter-ego entities. Moreover, the transfer and comingling of funds, in addition to Mr. W adman's unlimited access and control over the use of these assets, show that the related entities were established solely for his benefit. The tracing of these funds and multiple transfers have been investigated to provide a clear understanding about how Mr. Wadman used subterfuge methods to conceal the identity of funds and purchased assets, including the Phoenix, AZ real property. Alias Tax Returns 14. IRS records indicate that, under a social security number ending with 6742 which

matched that of Mr. Wadman, federal individual income tax returns were filed for 1990 through 1992 under the name Gary A. Emerson. 15. IRS records indicate that, under a social security number ending with 6742

matching that of Mr. Wadman, federal individual income tax returns were filed for 1993 through 1997 under the name Sean G. Black. 16. IRS records indicate that, under a social security number ending with 6742 and

matching the number mentioned above, Mr. Wadman filed federal individual income tax returns for 1998 through 2004 under the name William G. Wadman, V. Florida Real Estate Transactions 17. According to a public records database, Mr. Wadman and Philip R. Black in July,

2003, purchased a property at 5801 Bayview Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for $627,500. Mr. Wadman and Mr. Black sold the 5801 Bayview property in September of 2004 for $900,000.

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18.

The proceeds of the sale of a residence in the name of Mr. Wadman and Mr.

Black at 1408 Albury Street, Key West, Florida, were deposited with Mr. Wadman's bankruptcy attorney. 19. In addition to GWHT and Tri-Star, Mr. Wadman used another nominee to

conceal his ownership of property. Commercial real property which stored the vehicles described in paragraph 22, below, was located at 3569 SW 10th Street, Pompano Beach, Florida (the "Pompano Beach property"). The property was held in the name of Golden West Holdings LLC ("LLC"). Mr. Wadman reported LLC activity on his individual income tax returns. (Bloxham Decl., Ex. A, B). The LLC did not have a lease arrangement with GWHT to store the vehicles. Mr. Wadman contributed at least $135,788 of funds to purchase the Pompano Beach property from the GWHT and TriStar accounts at Suntrust Bank, and his own account. Copies of the checks are attached to the Jennings Declaration. Mr. Wadman listed the Pompano Beach property on his personal financial statement. Mr. Wadman listed the sale proceeds of the Pompano Beach property as his personal property on his Bankruptcy Schedules. 20. According to my investigation, Mr. Wadman purchased the residence at 2516

Del Mar Place, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in July of 2004 for $1,975,000. There was an existing mortgage with Chevy Chase Bank on the 2516 Del Mar property. Mr. Wadman used the tax refunds described in paragraph 3, above, to substantially improve the 2516 Del Mar property, as more particularly described in the Jennings Declaration. The 2516 Del Mar property was listed for sale for $2,895,000 at the time of the jeopardy levy in April, 2005. The 2516 Del Mar property was listed at 4,741 square feet, on the waterfront with a pool. 21. A search of Florida Department of Motor Vehicles records revealed the following:

(1) A 2004 Cadillac Escalade was registered to Mr. Wadman at the Del Mar property. (2) A Cadillac XLR was registered to Mr. Black at the Del Mar property. (3) At least five other vehicles were registered to Golden West Holdings Trust at the Del Mar property, including a 1986 Rolls Royce Silver Spur and a 1985 Mercedes 380 SL/SLC. -5-

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Vehicles in the name of GWHT Mr. Wadman had control of 18 collectible automobiles each registered under the

name of Golden West Holdings Trust. The vehicles were held at the Pompano Beach property, which property was titled in the name of Golden West Holdings LLC, a sole proprietorship of Mr. Wadman which he reported on his individual tax returns. The vehicles included the following: Year-Make-Model 1964 Buick Riviera 1970 Lincoln Mark III 1979 Cadillac Coupe DeVille 1978 Cadillac Seville 1986 Rolls Royce Silver Spur 1960 Ford Thunderbird 1967 Mercury Cougar XR7 1981 Chevy El Camino SS 1977 Lincoln Continental Mark V 1964 Chevy Corvair Convertible 1965 Ford Thunderbird 1969 Ford Mustang Gr. Coupe 1985 Mercedes 380 SL 1967 Ford Thunderbird 1962 Ford Thunderbird Convert. 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado 1966 Chevy Corvair Coupe 1958 Lincoln Continental Mk III VIN 7K1107646 0Y89A806872 6D47599283110 6S69B8Q480202 SCAZN42A2GCX14265 0Y71Y174284 7F93C615985 1GCCW 80J9BR451235 7Y89A804303 40967W 241745 5Y87Z129832 9R01H157215 W DBBA45C0FA021495 7Y82Q145954 2Y85Z142700 396876M532940 105376L105353 H8YE414732

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Dated September 26, 2008

__/s/ Calvin Byrd__ Calvin Byrd

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