Wayne Bentson

Wayne C. Bentson is a businessman and tax protester from Payson, Arizona.

Bentson operated "Western Information Network" and the "Bentson Group" until May 1997. He represented himself as a tax expert and told his clients that they did not need to pay federal income tax.

Benston helped Milton William Cooper research the article [http://www.supremelaw.org/authors/cooper/cooper.htm BATF/IRS -- Criminal Fraud] which was published in "Veritas" magazine, issue #6, in September 1995.

According to the United States Department of Justice, Bentson falsely advised clients that the income tax laws apply only "to individuals residing in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico." Bentson was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and willful failure to file income tax returns by a federal jury on December 13, 2004 in Tucson, Arizona. On May 18, 2005, he was sentenced to four years in prison and three years of "supervised release during which he is barred from giving tax advice." He was ordered to pay $1,129,937 to the Internal Revenue Service in restitution. [cite web
year = 2005
url = http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2005/May/05_tax_275.htm
title = Arizona man sentenced to four years in prison for tax fraud
work = Department of Justice news release
publisher = United States Department of Justice
accessdate = 2006-08-14]

Bentson was incarcerated at the Federal Community Corrections facility at Phoeniz, Arizona, and was released in May 2008. [Prisoner # 46800-008, Federal Bureau of Prisons, United States Department of Justice, at [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&LastName=Bentson&Middle=&FirstName=Wayne&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=16&y=13] .]

Notes

References

* [http://www.paysonroundup.com/section/frontpage_lead/story/17695 "Jury finds 'tax man' guilty of fraud"] by Kelly Crowley, "Payson Roundup", December 28, 2004, retrieved August 4, 2006