Updated April 20
An attorney in Ohio whose law license has been indefinitely suspended for more than a decade is the target of a federal suit that seeks to stop him and his company from preparing tax returns and promoting theft-loss deductions, the Justice Department said today.
The suit against Tobias Elsass and his company, Fraud Recovery Group, was filed April 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Click here for a copy of the complaint.
The Justice Department alleges Elsass is promoting a scheme that helps customers claim improper theft-loss tax deductions. Such deductions are allowed for certain criminal investment frauds. The taxpayer must show the loss was a result of theft.
Justice lawyers contend in the suit that the Fraud Recovery Group was promoting theft-loss deduction as “a panacea for all financial losses, and encouraging their customers … to claim it regardless of whether theft, or a loss resulting from theft, can be established.”
Elsass said April 20 that he is eager to challenge the suit in court. "Our opinion is the IRS is trying to bully us," Elsass said. "It's David vs. Goliath. We know what we are doing is correct."
Justice lawyers also allege in the complaint that Elsass “has repeatedly, and falsely, held himself out to customers, as well as the IRS, as qualified to represent taxpayers before the IRS in administrative proceedings.” The complaint notes that Elsass’s law license has been indefinitely suspended for more than 10 years.
The Supreme Court of Ohio in 1999 indefinitely suspended his law license following allegations that he continued to practice law despite an earlier suspension, which was put in place in 1995. The usual penalty for continuing to practice law under suspension is disbarment, the court noted in its ruling.
“In mitigation the board determined that respondent, so far, has successfully recovered from drug and alcohol abuse, and otherwise has generally been an upstanding and active member of the community,” the court said. “Nevertheless, due to respondent's repeated acts of dishonesty, deceit, and failure to abide by this court's orders, we adopt the recommendation of the board. Respondent is hereby indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in the state of Ohio.”
Elsass said his license suspension has nothing to do with his business. "That happened 10 years ago. I don't do any IRS stuff. I'm just the boss. I run the place," he said.
Comments