More trouble for accused Petaluma fraudsters
By Jamie Hansen, The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
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"I never thought I'd get to buy a home, and all of a sudden the landlord knocks on the door and says, 'yeah I'll sell you a house,' " Halihan said.
But their dream turned into a nightmare about 10 months later when they discovered their
Now, federal agents are searching for the Halihans' former landlords,
"It's not only arbitrary, it's a ridiculous waste of taxpayer time and money," he said.
He added that some of his and his wife's actions, such as not paying taxes, were committed in protest of unjust government laws and banking practices.
"Citizens are required to challenge the government, to call them to the carpet if things aren't being addressed appropriately," he said.
Castle would not say in a recent phone interview whether he, his wife and their daughters were still in
When asked if he planned to do so, Castle replied, "Why would I reach out? They're a bunch of liars, cheats and henchmen."
However, he said, he and his wife are planning to submit a response to the court. Castle said he had a "fundamental problem" with the income tax, which he described as voluntary. He has opted out from paying it as a conscientious objector for 30 years, he added. Castle listed concerns about banks and banks' relationship with the federal government among his objections.
Being a conscientious objector does not give someone immunity from paying taxes, said
"Stealing from the government is not a nonviolent form of protest," he said.
The Castles' actions and philosophy are typical of a loosely formed group of tax and government protesters often described as "sovereign citizens," said JJ MacNab, who writes about the movement for Forbes and is planning to publish a book on the subject next year. Such people often use "fake legal research" to avoid paying taxes, she said.
"I'm an individual that chooses to read instead of watch TV, push back instead of getting trampled on," he said. "If more people chose to do this, we probably wouldn't have problems with government run amok and a judiciary that exhibits arrogance to the people they're supposed to serve and protect."
Castle at times has fought the government's attempts to collect taxes from the couple. In
The federal government filed a civil complaint seeking to nullify the liens, writing that Castle's filings were "without any legal basis whatsoever" and "solely designed to harass federal employees in their personal lives for the performance of their official duties."
The court agreed to remove the liens in
Last month, a federal grand jury indicted the couple for allegedly preparing six false tax forms used to file returns seeking refunds totaling more than
Specifically, the Castles are accused of falsifying
Castle said
The
If convicted, the Castles face a maximum sentence of five years' prison time and a fine of
The Halihans were not surprised when they learned of the indictment. The
The home sold to the Halihans in 2009 had been used to secure a nearly
The Halihans were renting the home on
Castle said the Halihans first expressed interest in buying the home, not the other way around.
The Halihans eventually agreed to buy the home for
The title insurance company, Fidelity National, did not spot any problems with the house title at the time of the sale, he said. But about 10 months later, the couple started getting papers from
The title company "went to bat for us," Halihan said. Litigation between the title company and the Castles is ongoing, but not at the Halihans' expense. They've been able to remain in their home.
"I'm the poster boy for title insurance," he said.
The Castles first struck him as "really clean-cut, yuppie like," Halihan said. But over time, he said, he grew more suspicious of the couple, getting the feeling they were trying to sell him something. Halihan said he believes the Castles moved away, possibly to
Castle said he and his wife's actions regarding the house were "100 percent legal." He said they had cleared the property title through a "legal administrative process" and that
Castle has filed what he says is an unrelated suit against
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