Steven Swan
Tax-evasion teacher convicted
Fri Feb 13 13:00:56 2004
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Article published Feb 13, 2004
Manchester
Tax-evasion teacher convicted
U.S. income tax is voluntary, man says

By KATHY MCCORMACK
The Associated Press

A tax preparer who ran hotel seminars designed to teach people how to avoid paying federal income taxes was convicted yesterday of multiple counts of preparing false returns.

Steven Swan of Manchester was convicted in U.S. District Court in Concord on 15 counts of preparing false tax returns and amended returns, two counts of preparing false amended returns for himself and one count of corruptly impeding the administration of the federal tax laws. He faces three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count - up to 54 years and $4.5 million.

Swan, who was released in his own custody, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 19.

Prosecutors said that from 1997 to 2002, Swan, 51, prepared more than 200 so-called "zero-income"tax returns for clients, making false claims for refunds of more than $1 million. Swan, who represented himself at trial, did not dispute the government's case. He testified that he was a former disciple of tax protester Irwin Schiff, who wrote The Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes.

Swan said he met Schiff in New Hampshire in 1995, when Schiff was campaigning in the '96 presidential primary as a Libertarian. He bought Schiff's books and studied his material. "I believed in Schiff's information so much that I began disseminating his information to others myself," Swan said in a court document.