Overdue-tax cases against equity fund dropped
Jim Leusner
Sentinel Staff Writer
July 18, 2007
The Justice Department has dropped all five lawsuits against Orlando-based Mirabilis Ventures Inc. and four related companies seeking up to $223 million in overdue federal taxes.
Without explanation, Tax Division attorney Philip Doyle filed notices of "voluntary dismissal without prejudice" earlier this month in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale federal courts. The actions stop the proceedings but permit prosecutors to refile the suits later.
Harrison Slaughter, attorney for Mirabilis founder Frank L. Amodeo of Orlando, said he thinks that nearly 1 million documents the company turned over to local prosecutors have helped show that many other individuals and corporate officers also should be subject to tax litigation.
"The bottom line is that many other people are connected with these companies and are liable for tax recovery," Slaughter said. "The government was premature in filing these suits."
Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller would not comment on the dismissals. But other defense attorneys said they thought that the suits might have been dropped as a legal maneuver to protect government witnesses in the criminal probe from being interviewed at this time by company lawyers.
Mirabilis, an equity fund, has liquidated and shut down most of its operations. The company, its founder and related entities have been under scrutiny in recent months by the IRS, the FBI and a federal grand jury in Orlando investigating tax liabilities, witnesses and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said earlier this year.
A lawsuit against Mirabilis seeking nearly $1.6 million in unpaid corporate taxes, penalties and interest for the 2005 tax year was quietly dropped in late June by Justice Department lawyers in Washington. Slaughter said bank and tax records show the taxes were paid in September 2006.
The companies named in the other dropped suits, which sought unpaid corporate and employment taxes back to 2001, included Sunshine Staff Leasing; Sunshine Companies III and IV; Presidion Solutions I, IV, V and VII; and Professional Benefit Solutions.
The firms are payroll- and benefit-outsourcing companies, known as professional employer organizations, which help provide accounting and health insurance for businesses and their workers.
Jim Leusner can be reached at 407-420-5411 or jleusner@orlandosentinel.com.
Jim Leusner
Sentinel Staff Writer
July 18, 2007
The Justice Department has dropped all five lawsuits against Orlando-based Mirabilis Ventures Inc. and four related companies seeking up to $223 million in overdue federal taxes.
Without explanation, Tax Division attorney Philip Doyle filed notices of "voluntary dismissal without prejudice" earlier this month in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale federal courts. The actions stop the proceedings but permit prosecutors to refile the suits later.
Harrison Slaughter, attorney for Mirabilis founder Frank L. Amodeo of Orlando, said he thinks that nearly 1 million documents the company turned over to local prosecutors have helped show that many other individuals and corporate officers also should be subject to tax litigation.
"The bottom line is that many other people are connected with these companies and are liable for tax recovery," Slaughter said. "The government was premature in filing these suits."
Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller would not comment on the dismissals. But other defense attorneys said they thought that the suits might have been dropped as a legal maneuver to protect government witnesses in the criminal probe from being interviewed at this time by company lawyers.
Mirabilis, an equity fund, has liquidated and shut down most of its operations. The company, its founder and related entities have been under scrutiny in recent months by the IRS, the FBI and a federal grand jury in Orlando investigating tax liabilities, witnesses and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said earlier this year.
A lawsuit against Mirabilis seeking nearly $1.6 million in unpaid corporate taxes, penalties and interest for the 2005 tax year was quietly dropped in late June by Justice Department lawyers in Washington. Slaughter said bank and tax records show the taxes were paid in September 2006.
The companies named in the other dropped suits, which sought unpaid corporate and employment taxes back to 2001, included Sunshine Staff Leasing; Sunshine Companies III and IV; Presidion Solutions I, IV, V and VII; and Professional Benefit Solutions.
The firms are payroll- and benefit-outsourcing companies, known as professional employer organizations, which help provide accounting and health insurance for businesses and their workers.
Jim Leusner can be reached at 407-420-5411 or jleusner@orlandosentinel.com.
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