From Associated Press/BY MOLLY MCMILLIN
The Wichita Eagle
Government seizes Hawker jet in cigarette tax fraud case;
The government has seized the first Hawker 4000 delivered to a customer as part of a federal indictment filed against the Kansas businessman who bought it.
Gary Hall, owner of a Kansas wholesale tobacco company, and seven business associates are charged in a 43-count indictment in an alleged scheme to avoid paying $25 million in cigarette taxes that would have gone to the state of Oklahoma and Indian tribes, the U.S. attorney’s office said Friday.
Hall, president and owner of Sunflower Supply Co. in Galena, and his wife, Donna, took delivery of the Hawker 4000 in a ceremony at the company in June. The super-midsize business jet carries a list price of $21 million.
“If he’s acquitted, he’ll get his plane back,” said Jim Cross, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas.
Other personal property is also listed in the forfeiture.
Defense attorney Dan Monnat, who represents Hall, said the federal charges involve the complex structure of cigarette taxes in the state of Oklahoma.
“Gary Hall is a well-respected businessman and philanthropist from southeast Kansas,” Monnat said. “He vigorously asserts his innocence of these accusations and welcomes a jury trial that will make that clear.”
Hall, who lives in Joplin, Mo., owned and controlled other businesses, including Rebel Industries and Discount Tobacco Warehouse, according to the indictment.
The investigation began in 2006 when the Kansas Highway Patrol stopped a vehicle in Coffeyville carrying a load of cigarettes worth more than $200,000 without the required documents and appropriate tax stamps, the release said.
Hall and the others allegedly conspired to defraud the state of Oklahoma and Indian tribes that share in the proceeds of cigarette taxes, the office said.
Companies controlled by Hall and the other defendants allegedly stamped cigarettes for sale at smoke shops in lower tax rate areas, but the cigarettes were sold at smoke shops in higher tax rate areas.
“They carried out the scheme through a variety of means, including communications by Internet and fax and money wire transfers,” the release alleges.
They also allegedly funneled payments and orders through a third-party corporation called Gawkskey Inc.
Cigarette trafficking cases are complex investigations that involve money laundering, fraud and tax evasion, Michael Boxler, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agent in charge in Kansas City, said in a statement.
FlightAware Thread when aircraft was delivered in June 08.
FlightAware Flight Tracker N7007Q (N711GD reserved).
photo by benallsup/Flickr
Why is the comment about Waco made after the HAWKER JET SEIZED article? I don’t understand. Can you explain further what it means, if anything.