Al Brown: Tax Issues and the Angelus Resort

My focus has been the tax issues. The initial fraud by the Estes Group et. al. (“Estes”) was also a misrepresentation of the applicable tax law. All of the investors were in good faith following the legal and tax advice of Estes that the investors would be in full compliance with U.S. tax law. Estes used a minister, a tax return preparer, and others who held themselves out to be experts on the tax consequences and the safety of the investments. Estes also had seminars, videos, newsletters to market various investment plans and strategies. Estes in person and through marketing data represented the legitimacy of all of their tax and investment strategies.

Unfortunately all of the Estes tax counsel was wrong, and the investors have been agreeable to correcting distortions in their tax returns with amended tax returns.

I may speak to some of the technical issues in more detail at a later time.

Alvin Brown, Esq.
Tax Attorney
November 3, 2005