Name Change For Local Business

Tax advisor's advice illegal, IRS says

By Todd Ruger

Published: Friday, February 13, 2009 at 1:00 a.m

SARASOTA COUNTY - IRS special agents arrested a Sarasota man on Thursday on charges he made more than $2 million peddling anti-tax schemes that ultimately cost the government as much as $18 million.

Carel "Chad" A. Prater advertised his Tax Escape Service in Sarasota County and across the country, telling customers that income earned in the United States is not taxable, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Prater filed almost 1,300 documents in Sarasota County courts that he falsely claimed would legally remove his customers from the tax system, according to a Justice Department lawsuit against him.

Prater also told his customers to stop filing income tax returns and paying federal income tax, and helped set up businesses for them to transfer funds to avoid taxes, the indictment states.

IRS agents estimated the potential damage caused by Prater and his associates at $18 million, according to records filed as part of a lawsuit.

In 2005, a federal judge permanently barred Prater and another local man from advising people on how to avoid taxes.

Prater hopes to be out on bail in time for his next scheduled seminar on Wednesday, to be held at an undisclosed location. Special guest speakers to include Larry Nardelli and, via teleconferencing call from New York, Art Nadel, who is unable to attend in person due to pressing business concerns. Also on the dais will be local businessman, Dennis Kim, addressing the topic, "How To Negotiate Lower Insurance Premiums For Your Business."

Prater has also announced that his company name will change from 'Tax Escape Service' to 'Prison Escape Service.'

"I'm Wesley Snipes and I approved this message."

Sarasota School Board Approves New Curriculum

Sarasota County Schools will soon have a new teaching method to combat the rising number of teenage pregnancies in the district.

Said one educator, "This'll scare the bejeebers out of those little brats."

TMZ.com

Chinese drywall is quietly removed from houses

PR Lessons Pay Dividends For Bank Execs

Congress grills bankers on bailout money

Apparently, these guys (or more accurately, their handlers) have figured out how to act when summoned to appear before a suddenly righteously indignant Congress.

Patriotic is good: "We're Americans first and bankers second."

So is apologetic: "As an industry, we clearly made mistakes."

How about a vow of poverty: "I have asked my board of directors to pay me a $1 annual salary, with no bonuses, until Citigroup returns to profitability."

Oooooh, good one, Vikram.

They showed up with briefcases full of humility and good attitudes, vowing to eschew CEO bonuses and to lend the money that was given to them by the taxpayers back to the taxpayers.

At 21% interest, of course.

A sterling signal that a new era in fiscal responsibility has dawned in the banking industry. They have seen the light.

Ha! As soon as they were dismissed by the House Financial Services Committee, they all ran outside like school kids who just pulled one over on the teacher......

If At First You Don't Succeed, QUIT!!

Police say man broke into 22 homes

SARASOTA COUNTY - Nathaniel Redding left his home on Tuesday with a police car on his tail and a pillowcase over his shoulder.

Inside the pillowcase, according to authorities: a laptop computer with a logo for the Ringling College of Art and Design and a necklace with a pendant that says "SAMANTHA."

Redding is neither an art student nor is he a woman named Samantha -- but police say he is a prolific burglar who has broken into 22 homes in one Sarasota neighborhood since January.

Redding, 49, has been jailed in connection with two of the break-ins and detectives are trying to connect him to the rest, hoping that his arrest quiets the rash of thefts along Old Bradenton Road and Village Gardens Drive.

Since Jan. 1, thousands of dollars in jewelry, cash, computers and electronics have gone missing. Authorities say the burglar used the same tactics in almost every case -- wait until the resident goes to work, sneak in through a window or sliding glass door and rummage through dressers and cabinets looking for valuables.

Detectives caught a break last week, when they found a palm print on the kitchen sink of a home on 40th Street.

Two residents came home and saw that a screen was cut and a windowpane removed. Inside the house, in the 1100 block of 40th Street, about $50 in coins, a karaoke machine and a gold necklace were gone.

"I really hope I get the necklace back," said Judith Wilkens, a winter resident who lives there with her husband. "It was a 40th anniversary present."

The print was linked to Redding, who lives in the neighborhood. His record includes 66 arrests, 35 felony charges, 28 convictions and six stints in jail. Since the early 1980s, Redding has spent at least 12 years in a state prison. He has been convicted of 16 different felonies.

By Anthony Cormier

Published: Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.

Here's a tip for you, Nate; if you have a police record of 66 arrests for 16 different felonies, you need to find a new line of work. You suck at this one.

You couldn't even get a job in politics with that many arrests.

An investment broker, maybe. Nobody seems to give two shits about their background, just tell them that you can make them 20% on their investment.

You would think that spending 12 years in prison, you would get some pointers at how to be better at this burglary thing. I mean, breaking into 22 homes in the month of January alone is an impressive feat, but where you're falling down here is the 'getting arrested' part. You need to work on that part, dude.

"I think I got this figured out now....."

Well, Do Ya.......... Punk?

Woman, 82, fights off and chases purse-snatcher

Halle Stockton

Published: Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 12:56 p.m.

MANATEE COUNTY – An 82-year-old woman staying in a Bradenton hotel room fought with a purse-snatcher and chased him through the parking lot, according to a Manatee Sheriff’s report.

Authorities say Barry Campbell, 23, entered an elderly Ohio couple’s hotel room in the 3200 block of 14th Street West around 9 p.m. Wednesday, the report said.

The woman, 82-year-old Emma Kuhn, was in the room when Campbell entered. She said Campbell pushed her to the bed, but she jumped back up and grabbed his hair. Campbell then elbowed her and ran out of the room with her purse, containing more than $1,000, the report said.

Campbell, deputies say, then confronted Emma’s husband, Harlin Kuhn, also 82, outside of the room. He demanded money and threatened to shoot Harlin, according to the report. Harlin Kuhn handed over the money he had.

Emma Kuhn had recovered from being struck by this time and began to chase Campbell through the parking lot, deputies reported.

Shortly after, a police dog located Campbell in the back yard of a nearby residence and bit him.

Campbell was treated at Manatee Memorial Hospital for the bite. Emma Kuhn was treated by paramedics for bruises and cuts.

Yesterday, I bet this guy thought he was a real thug. Probably has the tats to prove it.

Yesterday, his friends thought he was a real badass. One of those guys who would just as soon cut your throat as look at you.

Yesterday, he hadn't met 82-year old Emma Kuhn. And he didn't know how happy he should have been that he hadn't.

Emma Kuhn dispenses street justice

You Think It's Easy Being King?

This article describes how the wife of Bernie "I Used To Be The Chairman Of Nasdaq--I Know How To Make You Richer Than You Already Are" Madoff withdrew $5.5 million from hubby's firm and, since that worked out so well, another $10 million a couple weeks later, which just so happened to coincidentally be the day before Madoff was arrested for running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Big deal! Like the $15.5 million she grabbed was going to make a difference.

Massachusetts Sec. of State, William Galvin, points to this little withdrawal as an indication that the missus might have been privy to what was going on down at the office, despite Madoff's assertion that he was the lone shooter.

"As you know, the tale is being told that it was just Mr. Madoff who apparently worked 24 hours a day, shooting out false invoices and statements to people,” Galvin told The Associated Press in an interview.

Ha! Good one! He's right; even Santa has to have elves......

Meanwhile, poor Bernie remains confined to his shabby, one-room flat in NYC:




We've got our own low-rent version of this same soap opera here in Sarasota. Instead of a $50 billion scam, it's an embarrassingly low $350 million hose job. Yes, that's 'million' with an 'm.' You'd think Sarasota could do better than that.

And, once again, it was all one guy's handiwork that nobody else knew anything about. Not the wife, not the business partners, not anybody that worked in the office. Certainly not the SEC, but, that goes without saying.

And if you're feeling sorry for Madoff having to live in squalor, our own Art Nadel is stuck in this dump:



It's his own fault, though. If the dumbass would have bought a nice little place in Manhattan like Madoff did, instead of buying property in North Carolina, his stay in the Big Apple might have been a bit more pleasant.

I mean, really, North Carolina? What was he thinking??