![]() In 1914 he resolved to migrate to Australia.ĭescribed as a farmer when he embarked from England, on his arrival in Victoria in 1915 Sorensen worked as a farmhand, prior to propagating ferns at Ormond Plant Farm. Following a short period of national service, he worked in Germany and France, and in Switzerland, where he was employed by Mertens Bros, landscape designers and contractors. In 1902 he began studying horticulture at the Horsholm Tekniske Skole. At an early age Paul was employed at Horsholm Planteskole, a Copenhagen nursery. The case was investigated by IRS-CI, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).Paul Edwin Bielenberg Sorensen (1891-1983), nurseryman and landscape gardener, was born on 16 December 1891 at Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, seventh of eight children of Jens Sorensen, civil servant, and his wife Marie, née Bielenberg. Judge Robart ordered Paul to pay that amount as restitution (joint and several with Kim and Kwon), along with the $5,000 fine. The amount of restitution left owing from the cash-for-check scheme is $1,764,818. ![]() Judge Robart will sentence Kwon, Kim, and Silva in January 2022.įollowing the indictment of Paul's coconspirators, the government seized more than $5 million from Kwon and Kim. One of the employees in the tribal smoke shops, Theodore Kai Silva, has also pleaded guilty. The owners of TK Mac, Hyung Il Kwon and Tae Young Kim, have also entered guilty pleas for their roles in the scheme. Paul had an interest in the success of TK Mac, as he had made loans to the owners of the non-tribal retail business, TK Mac, of nearly $2 million. The overall scheme caused the state to incur several more million dollars' worth of losses. As a result of this cash-for-check scheme, Washington State suffered losses of roughly $3.86 million. No tobacco products changed hands, but TK Mac received an excise tax credit. In fact, TK Mac simply provided the tribal smoke shops with large amounts of cash equal to the checks. So beginning in 2013 and continuing until 2017, Paul and his coconspirators engaged in a money-laundering scheme: The tribal smoke shops wrote checks to TK Mac as if the tribal smoke shops had purchased tobacco products from the non-tribal store. When TK Mac then resold the products for cash, the company had a problem, since large deposits of cash would have triggered state scrutiny of its tobacco business. Most of the sales were in cash, and TK Mac failed to report the purchases to the state, thus avoiding millions of dollars in excise taxes. "Financial fraud and tax evasion are not victimless crimes, and IRS-CI will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who choose to commit these offenses."Īccording to records filed in the case, between 20, Paul was President of three smoke shops on the Puyallup reservation that sold significant quantities of tobacco products to TK Mac, a non-tribal tobacco distributor. ![]() Paul conspired to defraud the state for his own greed, cheating Washington State residents out of millions of dollars that otherwise would have been invested into services for the community," said Bret Kressin, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Field Office. "The scheme allowed non-tribal tobacco vendors to have a sales advantage over other retailers-encouraging tobacco use, and boosting their profit while they avoided paying state taxes." "This sophisticated scheme to avoid state tobacco taxes harms all our residents by cutting into state funds used to pay for healthcare and treatment for tobacco related illnesses," said U.S. You turned the key that starts this conspiracy." Robart told Paul, "Money laundering is an integral part of criminal activity…. Anthony Edwin Paul was ordered to pay $1,764,818 in restitution to the Washington State Department of Revenue, plus a $5,000 fine. District Court in Seattle to 14 months in prison for a sophisticated money-laundering scheme designed to evade state taxes on smokeless tobacco products, announced U.S. Contact: of three Puyallup tribal smoke shops was sentenced late Friday, December 10, 2021, in U.S.
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