PHOENIX, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The Justice Department said Thursday it has asked a federal court to stop an Arizona couple from promoting an allegedly fraudulent tax scam.
Court filings said Tony and Micaela Dutson of Mesa allegedly sell a program that uses sham trusts and corporations to hide customers' income and assets from the Internal Revenue Service.
The complaint, filed in Phoenix, said Micaela Dutson is a former practicing attorney who resigned from the Oregon bar in 2002. The complaint alleged the Dutsons charge customers between $4,000 and $8,000 to purchase their program.
The IRS has identified more than 100 people who have purchased the Dutsons's scheme, which was previously previously sold in conjunction with David Carroll Stephenson. Stephenson was barred by a federal court last March from promoting the scheme.
The government also seeks an order directing the Dutsons to give the Justice Department their customers' names, mailing and e-mail addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers.
