A federal grand jury in Montgomery,
Ala., charged James Timothy Turner, also known as Tim Turner, with conspiracy
to defraud the United States, attempting to pay taxes with fictitious financial
instruments, attempting to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), failing to file a 2009 federal income tax return and falsely testifying
under oath in a bankruptcy proceeding, the Justice Department, the IRS, and the
FBI announced today.
According to the indictment, Turner, the
self-proclaimed “President” of the sovereign citizen group “Republic for the
united States of America,” conducted seminars at which he taught attendees how
to file retaliatory liens against government officials and to defraud the IRS
by preparing and submitting fictitious bonds to the United States government in
payment of federal taxes. Turner is alleged to have attempted to pay his own
taxes with a fictitious $300 million bond and to have assisted others in
attempting to pay their taxes with fictitious bonds purporting to be worth
amounts ranging from $10 million to $100 billion.
An indictment merely alleges that a crime has
been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond
a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Turner faces a maximum of 164 years in
federal prison, a maximum fine of $2,350,000 and mandatory restitution.
This case was investigated by special agents of the FBI and IRS –
Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Justin
Gelfand of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Middle District of Alabama
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gray Borden.
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