FEDERAL COURT PERMANENTLY ENJOINS DEFUNCT TELEMARKETING FIRM’S FORMER PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER

The following press release was published by the US Department of Justice on April 19, 2005. It is reproduced in full below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2005 WWW.USDOJ.GOV TAX (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Las Vegas has barred five Nevada men linked to a defunct telemarketing firm-the Las Vegas-based National Audit Defense Network (NADN)-from selling tax fraud schemes and preparing income tax returns for others. The court barred NADN’s former president, Weston Coolidge, of Las Vegas; its former general manager, Alan Rodrigues of Henderson; and Lee Panelli, Jeff Klingenberg, and Ric Klingenberg, all Las Vegas residents. The court also enjoined a related company, ALR, Inc., doing business as Success Matrix Group, from committing the same conduct.

Under a previously-issued court order, the government obtained from NADN the names of tens of thousands of NADN customers, including their mailing and e-mail addresses, Social Security or employer identification numbers, and telephone numbers.

NADN allegedly marketed a tax-fraud scam in which victims falsely were told they could claim a tax credit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by purchasing websites and then modifying them to comply with the ADA. The government’s court filings estimated that customers using NADN’s tax schemes, including the ADA-credit scheme, cost the federal treasury $324 million over a three-year period.

“The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service are committed to stopping tax fraud,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. She thanked Tax Division trial attorneys Evan J. Davis, Phyllis Jo Gervasio, and Karen G. Gregory; Tax Division paralegal Marion Goyette; and IRS revenue agents Sue Cutler and David Gordon for their work on the case.

The only remaining defendant in the suit is former NADN manager Adam Mangabang, against whom a preliminary injunction remains in force.

This case is part of the Justice Department’s “Operation Roaming Charge,” which targets international and domestic telemarketing fraud. Information about Operation Roaming Charge is available at .

More information about this case, including prior injunction orders and a copy of the complaint and brief in support of motion for preliminary injunction, are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv04233.htm ; http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv04309.htm , http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv04395.htm , and .

Information on NADN’s bankruptcy is available at . More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html. 05-199

Source: US Department of Justice