Houston Attorney Victorious in Suspension of IRS Attorneys
On August 11, nearly eighteen months after IRS attorneys Kenneth W. McWade and Richard A. Sims were sited by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco for deception, misconduct, withholding evidence, and defrauding the court (read the Appelate Ruling) the two attorneys have been suspended by their state bars, and the IRS has suspended them indefinitely.
This is the first time in US history that IRS attorneys have been suspended by the tax court and their state bar (see NY Times article below).
Had it not been for the Herculean efforts of Houston Appellate attorney, Michael Louis Minns, Sims and McWade’s actions would have gone unpunished.
After winning the 9th Circuit’s ruling for 1,300 airline pilots, Minns contacted the US Tax Court to demand disciplinary action. After several months of letter writing and phone calls the US Tax Court did not respond, so Minns contacted each of the fifty state bar associations to determine where the two attorneys were licensed. He discovered that Sims was licensed in Arkansas and McWade was licensed in Oregon. After being advised of the 9th Circuit’s ruling, both states immediately launched investigations, and Minns was named as the lead witness in the Arkansas case. Oregon advised Minns of their ruling on August 11th against McWade.
On January 17, 2003, the Ninth Circuit handed down its ruling to overturn a 1991 Federal Tax Court ruling, whereby 1,300 airline pilots had been assessed more than $10.2 billion in back taxes, penalties and interest. The IRS case surrounded a tax-sheltered trust they the pilots has established for their children and their own retirement.
These latest actions will prompt the largest refunds ever in IRS history, totaling in excess of $2.6 billion.Source