John Anthony Castro, the leading Republican presidential candidate fighting to remove former President Trump from the vote over the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause, on Tuesday rejected his ruling by a federal judge in Nevada. The next day, he was arrested on federal tax fraud charges. The lawsuit aims to prevent Trump from running for office.
Castro, 40, of Mansfield, Texas, was indicted on 33 counts of aiding and abetting the preparation and filing of false and fraudulent tax returns, U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton of the Northern District of Texas announced Wednesday. did. The indictment was filed under seal on Jan. 3, according to court records.
Prosecutors say that through his tax preparation business, Mr. Castro perpetrated a pattern of preparing and filing false tax returns on behalf of dozens of unsuspecting taxpayers, resulting in hundreds of thousands of improper returns. It is claimed that a payment request has been made. He was arrested Tuesday and released later that day after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray Jr.
“Mr. Castro's alleged crimes are astonishing in their brazenness,” Simonton, who was nominated by President Biden, said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable the federal government and those who steal from the pockets of Americans.”
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Former Trump attends the Trump Organization civil fraud trial in New York State Supreme Court on December 7, 2023. Trump will return to court Thursday for closing arguments in his trial. (Pool photo via David Dee Delgado/AP, file)
Tammy Tomlins, special agent in charge of the Newark field office, added, “This is exactly the type of activity that the IRS Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners are working to deter.” “Today’s indictment sends a clear message that if you abuse our nation’s tax system for personal financial gain, you will be held accountable.”
Mr. Castro told The New York Times in a telephone interview that he believed the charges were politically motivated and an attempt to thwart lawsuits challenging Trump's qualifications as president.
“They left me open for three years to see if I was going to stop being a political problem and leave, and I didn't,” Castro told the Times.
Castro also told The Hill that his company settled a tax filing dispute with the IRS in 2021, alleging that certain customers misunderstood tax laws.
The indictment comes after Judge Gloria M. Navarro of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada ruled on Monday that Mr. Castro was ineligible, and that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ultimately barred Mr. Trump from becoming president. The order was issued to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to block Trump from holding office over Castro's incitement allegations. The 2021 U.S. Capitol Riot.
Because Mr. Navarro, an appointee of former President Obama, could not prove that Mr. Castro “suffered specific, specific, actual or imminent injury” as a result of Mr. Trump's actions, the court ruled that such “political The court ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction over a matter of serious personal significance. It is the interest of the American people. ”
The judge also noted how Mr. Castro, by his own admission, declared himself a candidate and paid the filing fee to show that Mr. Trump should not be allowed to serve as president. The other five courts are already rejected The status of Mr. Castro's political competitors is debated, and Mr. Navarro emphasized that Mr. Trump and Mr. Castro are not even competing on the same ballot in Nevada.
Former President Trump speaks at a FOX News Channel town hall on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer)
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According to the indictment, Castro owned and operated Castro & Company LLC, a virtual tax preparation business with locations in Orlando, Florida, Mansfield, Texas, and Washington, D.C. Prosecutors allege that starting in 2016, Castro devised a false tax preparation scheme and filed false tax returns on behalf of unsuspecting taxpayers. According to the indictment, taxpayers sought Mr. Castro's assistance in preparing their personal tax returns, and Mr. Castro promised taxpayers significantly higher refunds than they could receive from other return preparers and paid many more. In this case, the company offered to split the additional refund among taxpayers. To achieve these large refunds, Castro allegedly created false deductions without taxpayers' knowledge.
In 2018, an undercover agent posing as a taxpayer asked Castro & Company for assistance, according to the indictment. Mr. Castro reportedly offered to assist the undercover agents virtually, although he refused to meet in person unless paid a $5,000 reward. Prosecutors say that in recorded phone conversations, Mr. Castro is able to predict the amount of tax refunds an undercover agent would receive from another company and compare that number to the refund that Mr. Castro would receive. He claims to have said that.
According to the indictment, Castro employees met with the agency over the phone regarding deductions.
Former President Trump greets the audience after the FOX News Channel Town Hall on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer)
The employee allegedly said that Mr. Castro would decide what items would be included on the tax return. According to prosecutors, the employee did not disclose to the investigator the details of the deduction, and during the interrogation, the undercover investigator denied any facts supporting the deduction.
On March 14, 2018, Castro filed a representative tax return claiming $29,339 in fraudulent deductions. The IRS issued his $6,007 refund, Mr. Castro received $2,999 for his services, and the agent received his remaining $3,008. Castro told taxpayers that if he had used another tax reserve, he would have received only a $300 deduction, the indictment states.
If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 99 years in federal prison (three years for each charge). The Internal Revenue Service's Bureau of Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation.
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Mr. Castro's legal efforts to bar Mr. Trump from voting have so far failed, but dozens of other lawsuits have challenged Mr. Trump's eligibility, and the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that the state's He cited the 14th Amendment in removing Trump from the ballot. Maine's Democratic secretary of state also banned Trump from voting, citing the insurrection clause.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to accept Trump's challenge to the Colorado ruling, and arguments are expected to be heard in February.
