From the Millard County Chronicle Progress ...
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Couples at heart of fraud case indicted by federal grand jury
A federal grand jury last week indicted a married couple who authorities say ran a years-long tax scheme from Millard County that defrauded the government out of $50 million.
Neldon and Glenda Johnson were each indicted on felony contempt charges. Glenda Johnson was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Salt Lake City with five counts of contempt, while her husband was charged with only one.
The indictment recounts the couple’s recent trials and tribulations, including losing a federal civil case brought against them in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division.
The couple lost their case in 2018 and a judge installed a receiver to take possession of any assets purchased with gains from their fraudulent enterprise—Neldon Johnson operated and Glenda Johnson was employed by several entities that essentially marketed and sold fake solar energy components as a means for purchasers to reduce their income tax liability through the use of federal solar energy tax credits.
Among the assets seized and eventually sold at auction by the receiver were hundreds of acres of land in Millard County, multiple homes, as well as vehicles. Bank accounts were frozen, customers and other beneficiaries of the fraud were sued. Court appeals were lost and others are ongoing.
From almost the instant they lost their court case in 2018, the Johnsons engaged in dubious behavior behind the scenes that saw them slapped with civil contempt charges and threatened with arrest on more than one occasion.
Glenda Johnson filed millions of dollars in liens, for example, against property that had already been seized and sold, or was earmarked for such.
A Millard County sheriff’s deputy, in another example, just happened by a garbage transfer station in Oasis when the Johnson’s were spotted getting rid of documents, including financial records, sought by the court’s receiver.
These incidents and more were highlighted in the indictments against them.
The punishment for a felony contempt charge includes a fine up to $1,000 and a prison term of six months for each count, according to federal law.
The couple is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court on Jan. 7 via Zoom, according to a docket of criminal cases available online. The records do not make it clear whether federal authorities arrested the pair. A call to the assistant U.S. Attorney handling the case was not answered.
Meanwhile, in the couple’s civil matter, the receiver, R. Wayne Klein, continues to file regular quarterly reports as well as special litigation reports detailing his progress in the complicated case—three years after the Johnsons lost in court.
In a litigation report filed on Dec. 6, Klein wrote that he had filed more than 100 individual lawsuits “against family members, insiders, law firms, credit card issuers, commission recipients, and others.” The receiver has so far entered into 30 separate settlements with targets without filing litigation. Auctions of property and possessions once owned by the Johnsons continue as well.
millardccp.com
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Sure is a pretty day.
TED |
