Verbatim

March 22, 2011

Church set up to hide income, indictment alleges

A man posing as an attorney to give tax advice helped the owner of a drywall business evade income taxes on more than $4 million in receipts, according to a seven-count indictment issued by a federal grand jury in Fort Worth. The indictment alleges that, to hide the client's income, Phillip Ballard helped him create a fradulent trust and a purported church, known as Chapel of Light Ministries. Prosecutors accuse Ballard of continuing the scheme from 1997 to 2005. Ballard faces one count of corrupt interference with internal revenue laws and six counts of aiding in the preparation of fraudulent individual income tax returns, according to the indictment. U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks annouced the indictment on Monday. 

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