Internal Revenue Service

Marco Rubio Wrong on Immigration and Guns, but Florida Still Kinda Likes Him, Poll Says

Hey, Marco. We gotta talk. We know, you're busy listening to Coldplay or some other suburban gringo music that you profess to love. But this is serious. You've been making a lot of noise lately -- on gun control, on immigration, on the IRS -- and it's making our heads hurt. We'd just like you to s ... More >>

Of 50 "Worst Charities," 11 Are in Florida

Florida may be one of the most generous states when it comes to giving, but the Sunshine State also happens to have the worst charities in the nation. According to a yearlong investigation by the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting, Florida has 11 of the 50 worst charities i ... More >>

After Tea Party / IRS Debacle, Republicans Call for Debbie Wasserman Schultz to Return Campaign Donation

In case you missed it, Tea Partiers around the country are mad at the IRS. Long story short: the IRS isn't supposed to let any old group be exempt from paying taxes. Agency rules dictate that it is only supposed to grant 501 (c)(4) status to "social welfare" groups -- ones that don't make politics ... More >>

Morton's the Steakhouse Food Porn Pic Helps Feds Nab Identity Thieves

Two South Florida identity thieves the feds have been trying to nab were caught after one of them couldn't resist Instagraming a picture of his food at Morton's the Steakhouse in Fort Lauderdale. Nathaniel Troy Maye, 44, who claims to have stolen 700,000 identities, and his lady friend, Tiwanna Ten ... More >>

Marco Rubio Calls For Non-Existent IRS Commissioner To Resign

Marco Rubio and the GOPers have their new Obama outrage to dryhump with this IRS fiasco where they targeted conservative groups during the 2012 election. And so Rubes is asking -- nay, DAMANDING -- that the IRS Commissioner resign his IRS Commissiony job effective immediately because... outrage! A ... More >>

The Entire State of Florida Is Going to Jail For Tax Evasion

Monday is the last day to file your taxes. Have you filed them? Probably not. Because, according to a report, Floridians are filing slower than usual this year. This could be a mistake, Plantation spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service, Mike Dobzinski says. Because last-minute crunch-time filin ... More >>

Internet Cafés Are Officially Banned in Florida

Gov. Rick Scott officially made internet cafés go kaput Wednesday afternoon, when he signed legislation that bans up to 1,000 internet gaming storefronts across the state. See also: -Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll Has Resigned The new law is in large part thanks to Allied Veterans, an intern ... More >>

Internet Cafés Ban Passes Florida House

Much to the harrumph of Florida senior citizens everywhere, it looks like internet cafés are closer to being no mas in the Sunshine State. On Tuesday afternoon, a Florida Senate panel voted unanimously to shutter internet cafés and senior arcades.

Rose Marks, Fortuneteller Accused of $25 Million Fraud, Now Targeted by IRS

One of the more made-for-TV courtroom dramas to roll out of Broward recently involves Rose Marks. The matriarch of a Fort Lauderdale family of fortunetellers, Marks schemed $25 million from a best-selling romance novelist and other victims, or so say federal prosecutors. The psychic herself has be ... More >>

Salomon Melgen's Lawyer Says FBI Won't Say Why It Raided His Office

On Wednesday, we told you about how FBI agents raided the West Palm Beach medical office of Dr. Salomon Melgen, an eye doctor and contributor to New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who also may or may not have provided the senator with underaged Dominican hookers. See also: FBI Agents Raid Off ... More >>

Tax-Exempt Hate Group Flouts IRS, Campaigns for Romney

Last week's chaotic, tragicomic public debate at the Ross Jewish Community Center in West Boynton Beach -- "Should Jews Vote for Obama or Romney?" -- featured two distinct styles of advocacy for Jewish support of the GOP. One comes from delusional innocence, the other from calculated malevolence. T ... More >>

David Cypress, Tax-Evading Former Seminole Leader, Sentenced to Federal Prison

From the uncharted universe next door that is government on the Seminole reservation, comes a likely first for Native Americans: a former tribal leader is going to prison on tax evasion charges.David Cypress, a member of the Seminole tribal council until 2010, was convicted of filing a false tax ret ... More >>

Jose Canseco Bankruptcy: Blames Government, Would Like to Keep His Bowling Ball

Disgraced South Florida baseball player Jose Canseco is in debt -- $1.69 million in debt, to be exact, most of it in taxes. But don't worry -- it's not the former MLB all-star's fault."The issue is very simple: If you've got friends and family, the more money you make the more you spend on them. So ... More >>

Secular Group Files IRS Complaint Against Terry Jones Church

A group says they filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service yesterday over the recent actions of Terry Jones' Dove World Outreach Center, which hung an effigy of Obama outside of its church earlier this month. The D.C.-based group, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, says ... More >>

Ten Deals on Tax Day for $10.99 (or Less)

Welcome to Tax Day, the last possible moment to delay paying financial obligations to the IRS. Needless to say for most of us, after-work activities will not involve shopping or splurging on a tasting menu. I'm really cranky about it this morning.If you too owe Uncle Sam more than a paycheck, we're ... More >>

Tomorrow Is Your Chance to Buy Weird Stuff Seized by the Government

A warehouse in Pompano Beach is full of fancy stuff seized by the government: watches, wines, iPods, and diamond bracelets taken from criminals of every sort by U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, the IRS, and the Secret Service. And starting Friday, they wan ... More >>

"Seeking Justice" Gives Nic Cage Revenge – and his Once-a-Year Decent Movie

You Might Want to File Tax Returns This Year: The IRS's $1 Billion It Owes Americans

​​We've only got about a month left before 2011 federal income taxes are due (April 17, everybody), and, even if you didn't make enough money to require filing a return, the IRS says you might want to.Many people who don't have to file returns still have federal income taxes out of their paychec ... More >>

Alex Johnson, Colombian Snitch in Case Against Buju Banton, Earned Millions From U.S. Government

​Alex Johnson -- a main character in this week's cover story about the conviction of Buju Banton -- on Monday further delayed his bankruptcy hearing. On the surface, there's nothing extraordinary about that; many Americans have turned to bankruptcy proceedings, which can stretch months if not year ... More >>

Seven People Charged in Tax Fraud Case Based on Secret Bank-Account Conspiracy Theory

ambienceofmedia.com​Get this: The government creates a secret bank account for every person issued a birth certificate in the United States -- and has been doing so since the enactment of the 1936 Social Security Act -- that holds $630,000. Through a series of IRS filings, people can become entitl ... More >>

Tax Day Deals

Grab a bite before Uncle Sam bites you!​The IRS was nice enough to give us a whopping two-day extention on filing our taxes. That's all well and good, but you still might come out feeling a little poorer if you have to write a check to Uncle Sam today. Fret not, because there are a lot of ... More >>

BurgerFi Features Two Tax Break Deals

BurgerFi​Like many Americans, you're probably waiting until the very last minute, April 18th, to file your taxes (yes, the IRS gave us a whopping three day extension this year). After learning how much of your hard earned cash you don't get to keep, you just might need a little somethi ... More >>

WTFlorida: 10 Reasons Why Florida is Better at Everything

Miche Ratto​Here in Florida we're really good at a lot of things. Topping the list we have: growing indoor marijuana, staging car accidents, and throwing children in jail. And boy are we good at all of those things.To learn more about the awesome state you live in click the image.

Florida Prisoners Lead The Nation in Tax Fraud

​Florida is number one again. The state that holds the championship belt in oxycodone consumption now leads the U.S. in fraudulent tax returns filed from prison. Perhaps our prisoners are trying to emulate the leadership traits of Captain Medicaid Fraud, aka Gov. Rick Scott. Florida inmates filed ... More >>

Florida Among Top Three States Targeted for a New Form of Identity Theft

flickr.com​How low can you go? Apparently six feet under wasn't low enough for the Fort Lauderdale man sentenced to nine years in federal prison last Friday for stealing identification from mourners attending funerals as part of an ID theft ring. But Diaz's funeral fraud ring isn't the only s ... More >>

Russ Klenet Is a Former Tax Deadbeat

​Sources have been telling me for the past 18 months that the IRS is going to be the agency that brings down lobbyist Russ Klenet, husband of Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter. Klenet​Yesterday we got the first official whiff of it when eye doctor and felonious ... More >>

Kristin Haynes, Millionaire Creator of "Dreamsicles" Figurines, Sentenced for Tax Evasion

We must be in the wrong business. Looks like the big money is in knickknacks, trinkets, and doodads. According to court documents in a federal criminal case, Kristin Haynes, creator of the Dreamsicles line of collectible ceramic figurines (like the one pictured here) raked in nearly $3 mil ... More >>

[UPDATEDx2] Lien on Me: Allen West Calls for "Personal Responsibility" Undermined by Personal Financial Record; Will Tea Party Protest Him?

FlickrAllen West addresses tea partiers at their July 2009 rally.​Ha ha, just kidding about the tea party protest. Not likely these folks turn on one of their own "patriots," even if the recent revelations suggest that West has done exactly what he and his tea party allies have pilloried the gover ... More >>

Mercedes Smashes Into Lauderdale Jewelry Store

The black Mercedes that smashed through the front door of Windsor Diamonds in Fort Lauderdale this afternoon did not have a political motive. I say this because after yesterday's kamikaze attack on the IRS building in Texas, we're all a bit jumpy about people driving things into buildings where they ... More >>

Broward Check-Cashing Kingpin Busted for Money Laundering

Photo courtesy Broward Sheriff's OfficeChristiano Gloria​Christiano Leonardo Gloria, 29, has been arrested for allegedly playing a role in what state investigators say was a 5-year scheme to defraud the IRS and launder the money. The check-cashing store operator faces 110 charges.It's a perplexing ... More >>

GlobeTel CEO Indicted

courtesy GlobeTel​A couple of years ago, we ran a feature story about GlobeTel, a company that was supposedly going to deploy blimp-like satellites across the country and beam down internet signals. There were a few problems with the scheme: building hi-tech airships seemed a job more suited for b ... More >>

West Palm Beach Man Arrested in Giant Drug Trafficking Ring

​Hopeton Joseph Reid, of West Palm Beach, was one of 16 men arrested in Texas last week in connection with what authorities are calling a "major drug ring" that allegedly moved tons of marijuana from Mexico across the U.S. A grand jury in Houston indicted all 16 individuals on ... More >>

Deal Forged in South Florida Will Peel Back Secrecy of Swiss Bank

Flickr: twicepix​More details are emerging about the agreement between the U.S. Justice Department and UBS, the Swiss bank accused of helping wealthy Americans evade taxes -- a case that's been bandied about in South Florida's U.S. District Court and which has attracted the two nation's top diplom ... More >>

Race Car Driver to Plead Not Guilty by Reason of Celebrity; Jury May Get Chance to Dance

Prosecutors say Helio was two-stepping with money laundering.Race car driver Helio Castroneves goes on trial today in South Florida in a case filed by prosecutors who apparently don't know that juries are incapable of convicting a celebrity. The IRS claims Castroneves conspired to commit tax fraud a ... More >>

David Allan Coe

Morning Juice: Avoiding IRS is Actually a Crime, Lois Frankel Tells Us to Go to Work

Prosecutors: Swiss Banker Tried to Screw IRS. Us: Is That Wrong?Federal prosecutors in Fort Lauderdale have charged a Swiss banker with helping 20,000 Americans hide assets from the IRS. A judge signed an order yesterday declaring that former UBS AG executive Raoul Weil is a fugitive from justice. N ... More >>

Lantana-Based White Rights Group Says It's Not Racist, Really; It's Just Lookin' Out for Whitey

The American Association of White Americans is using the election of the first black president to tell the country a few things about its American organization of Americans. In America. In two open letters addressed to the "Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Senate Wash, DC," the Lantana-based a ... More >>

Letters for July 31-August 6, 2008

Willie Nelson

All That Jazz

Sophie Milman is the new jazz starlet — and one hell of an interview

Anchor, Man?

Playing against type, Will Ferrell can't quite ground this artificially whimsical romantic comedy.

When Is A Correction Not Enough?

Got House?

Your Own Piece of Sunshine

Prostrate Loyalty

My President, Right or Wrong

Finished Line

Federal indictments. Drugging. Lowbrow culture. Hollywood Greyhound Track is for the dogs.

Letters for August 8, 2002

A dancing dilemma

Mail Chauvinists

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is tough on mail fraud -- and, some say, even tougher on its black female agents

The Deadbeat Goes On

The state legislature should soon pass a bill criminalizing failure to pay child support, but those who live within the system say this reform doesn't go nearly far enough

Shock Market Rises

The Dearly Departed

Tax collectors and employees alike have decried Susan Telli's free-spending, power-hungry ways at Broward's Hospice Care. So why is she still in charge?