}

Total Pageviews

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

"SEED MONEY": Government Files Opposition To Steven Ingersoll's Motions For Judgment of Acquittal & New Trial

PREVIEW...

The federal government filed a 26-page response yesterday in opposition to Steven Ingersoll's motions for a judgment of acquittal and a new trial. Roy C. Bradley, Ingersoll's co-defendant and fellow convicted felon, also filed a separate motion, joining Ingersoll in an effort to overturn his conviction.

The 26-page motion (and roughly 40 pages of exhibits submitted by the government) deserves careful review, but your girl Miss Fortune has already gleaned a few highlights...or should I say "lowlights"?

ENRON

CPA James Camiller, who tried to prepare 2010 tax returns for Ingersoll and his entities, said that Ingersoll had unreported income and “specifically recalled telling him that the flow among all these entities looked like Enron.”  

Included with the government's list of exhibits was an April 18, 2011 email from Camiller to Steven Ingersoll. 

Camiller declined further accounting work with Ingersoll:

"Unfortunately however, I do not feel that we should work together in a professional capacity in regards to your tax filings. After further reviewing your entities and the historical economic flow of resources through these entities, I believe that you have the potential for some tax problems.

As a “small-town” CPA, I honestly do not have the experience to effectively deal with some of these potential problems (if they ever arise).
"


Looks like this self-described “small-town” CPA had “big-city” instincts!

THE UNCAPPED MONEY GUSHER

During the trial, the government presented evidence that Ingersoll used his solely-owned businesses to obtain control over millions of dollars which he then used as he saw fit, shuttling funds between his entities, his personal bank accounts, and projects pursued with Bradley, all without reporting the income that the funds represented
to him on his tax returns filed during the relevant time periods. 


The evidence included federal income tax returns filed by Steven Ingersoll for himself, Smart Schools Management (SSM), and Smart Schools Incorporated (SSI).

Over a period of six years, millions of dollars sluiced through the Grand Traverse Academy's bank accounts like rainwater into a storm sewer—ending up in various accounts controlled by Steven Ingersoll. 

During the trial, the government presented evidence that Ingersoll used his solely-owned businesses to obtain control over millions of dollars which he then used as he saw fit, shuttling funds between his entities, his personal bank accounts, and projects pursued with Bradley, all without reporting the income that the funds represented
to him on his tax returns filed during the relevant time periods. 


The evidence included federal income tax returns filed by Steven Ingersoll for himself, Smart Schools Management (SSM), and Smart Schools Incorporated (SSI). 

Those returns revealed that Steven Ingersoll and his related entities did not have enough money of their own to fund the Bay City Academy church-to-school renovation project that Ingersoll undertook with Roy Bradley in 2010 and 2011.

Ingersoll’s 2009 and 2010 Forms 1120 for SSM reported losses of $52,047 and $5,356 respectively. 


Ingersoll’s 2009 and 2010 Forms 1120s for SSI reported net incomes of $49,545 and $10,526, respectively. 

Ingersoll filed 2011 returns for SSM and SSI with no information other than the identity of the entity for which he was filling.  

WHAT DID KAYE KNOW...AND WHEN DID SHE KNOW IT? 

According to testimony during the trial, Gaylord-based CPA Tony Henning recalled that by June 30, 2011, $2.5 million in transfers of funds were reported as accounts receivable on the GTA books maintained by Ingersoll through SSM on behalf of the GTA. 

Margaret Hackett, a GTA attorney, testified that “substantial unauthorized transactions” ultimately totaling $3.5 million were reported as accounts receivable, not as loans, on the GTA books reflecting funds obtained by Ingersoll from GTA via Ingersoll’s SSM. 

Only after the unauthorized transfers were brought to light did Ingersoll ask the GTA to re-characterize the transactions as loans to mitigate the tax consequences that would otherwise result. 

In its response, the government states that "the funding for the projects undertaken by Ingersoll and co-defendant Bradley was derived in part from millions of dollars in unauthorized advances that Ingersoll took from the Grand Traverse Academy (GTA) over a period of years by exploiting his sole-ownership and control over SSM, the entity that operated GTA." 

But what about former GTA superintendent Kaye Mentley, who famously circled the wagons after Ingersoll's indictment, claiming in an email that "the charges have nothing to do with the Grand Traverse Academy"?

In its response, the government reveals information indicating Mentley must have been aware her post-indictment assertions were untruthful:

"As Ingersoll told Kaye Mentley, the school superintendent for GTA and an employee of Ingersoll’s SSM, Ingersoll used money from the BCA loan to repay part of the “seed money” that GTA had provided to BCA, albeit without authorization by GTA." 

"Seed" money? 

If Ingersoll had used a gun to rob the Grand Traverse Academy, those missing millions would have been called "stolen" money!
 

MUCH MORE TO COME...

9 comments:

  1. Honest citizens and taxpayers cannot thank you enough for your diligence, research and keeping the general public aware of all these matters....all your work is for the public good. Hoping the Bay City Times and Traverse City Record-Eagle start doing their fair-share of reporting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! You wonder what Miss Mentley is thinking now as the government finds that her statements were untruthful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The government did not express any opinion on Mentley's post-indictment statements.

      The response did reveal that Mentley's testimony revealed her knowledge of Ingersoll's repayment--because he told her himself.

      Delete
  3. "Seed money?" I guess he will reap what he has been sowing with all his financial seeds.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The whole situation seems "seedy".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seedy is too mild a word to use here.

      Delete
  5. On September 24th, hopefully justice will be dispensed. May he get exactly what he deserves. It's been long overdue.

    ReplyDelete
  6. With all the shuttling of money between his businesses, it appears Mr. Ingersoll was running a 'shuttle service', his own very unique shuttle service.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonder what kind of 'seeds' they are planting now? Could it be for a fall crop of getting money through some curriculum fee, or transfering the curriculum rights to some other family member? And what will they look like when they start sprouting?
    You just hope the government is doing all it can in ongoing investigation.

    ReplyDelete