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Former Revenue Officer Pleads to Tax Evasion

dojA former revenue officer of the Internal Revenue Service and tax preparer has pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of corruptly endeavoring to impede the due administration of the internal revenue. Greensboro, N.C. resident, Henti Lucian Baird, age 60, admitted he filed returns but had not paid self-assessed taxes since at least 1998 while operating his own business.

Penalties and interest will accrue on $477,028.80 in tax, penalties and interest until Baird has paid the full amount. He faces a maximum of five years in prison on the evasion count and three years on the obstruction count.

After 12 years as a revenue officer, Baird established HL Baird's Tax Consultants, which he operated from 1989 to 2014. He advertised as specializing in IRS problem, but used his own knowledge of the system to avoid paying taxes.

His actions included the following: Creating 10 bank accounts in his children's names to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars; submitting false Form 433-A to the investigating revenue officer that did not reveal all of his bank accounts; filing, in bad faith, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, a cash offer in compromise, a request for discharge and an application for subordination of his federal tax lien and transferring funds from accounts to avoid impending IRS levies.

The IRS said he continued to pay the mortgage on his 4,300 sq. ft. home, annual fees on a timeshare in Florida and car payments on his BMW. He used his stepson's identity, without the latter's knowledge, to apply for a Preparer Tax Identification Number, which was used to file more than 900 client income tax returns, as well as his own returns.

He also submitted at least 120 Forms 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, on behalf of clients stating he was an Enrolled Agent, even though his authorization had been revoked.

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