Before I begin this piece let me just say one thing: taxation is theft.
It isn’t about who should ‘pay their fair share’, it isn’t about large multinational corporations and the little guy—none of us should be paying taxes, or at least not to the incredibly inflated amounts the U.S. government steals from us yearly.
According to the latest reports, Todd Kozel has received a 5 year prison sentence for evading taxes on a foreign oil concern that he was invested in.
Kozel’s compensation was coming from outside of the U.S., but changes to the law which emerged only recently historically speaking, compel U.S. citizens earning money and or living outside the U.S. to pay U.S. taxes.
As if taxation wasn’t already preposterous enough, the government now demands that money not made in this country, and often made by people residing outside the borders of the country are its rightful claim.
One Amateur internet sleuth theorized that a previous divorce settlement could have contributed to Kozel’s indictment:
WHITE COLLAR CRIME BEAT: Todd Kozel Who Evaded Taxes on #Kurdistan Oil Today Gets 5 Years In Jail, His Lebanon Links & Marc Rich's Flight Cited, His Father Gets Cross-Examined – Inner City Press story: https://t.co/YVrjBm9f8k pic.twitter.com/k6PahvIPbt
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 26, 2022
Now US Attorney U.S. Attorney Damian Williams says: “For years, Todd Kozel failed to file income tax returns. all citizens must pay their fair share of taxes, including Americans who earn compensation from working in foreign countries.” Or for the UN? https://t.co/pcAytUaivj
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 26, 2022
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a press release:
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “For years, Todd Kozel failed to file income tax returns, or pay the federal tax liabilities that were owed under those returns, despite earning millions of dollars in compensation as the CEO of an overseas oil company. Today’s sentence shows that no one is above the law—all citizens must pay their fair share of taxes, including Americans who earn compensation from working in foreign countries.”
IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent-in-Charge Tom Fattorusso said: “U.S. citizens are required to pay taxes on worldwide income from all sources, including income earned overseas. Kozel earned tens of millions of dollars, and as a result, was required by law to pay taxes – more than $20 million – on those earnings. By not paying his fair share, he cheated the American people out of millions of dollars.”
Todd Kozel founder of London-listed oil company Gulf Keystone https://t.co/FcZchq15v6
— Frog Legs 🐸 (@100FrogLegs) January 26, 2022
He made the mistake of letting his wife, now ex-wife know about some of his off-shore assets.
She wanted them in the divorce so he had to flip for DOJ!https://t.co/86MRRWQaEY— DawsonSField (@DawsonSField) January 26, 2022
The New York Post had previously reported on Kozel’s divorce settlement:
A former oil executive won a massive legal victory Wednesday when an appeals court overturned a $38 million judgment his ex-wife won in their divorce, according to court papers.
Todd Kozel, who married a young Lithuanian blonde after he and wife Ashley split in 2010, was ordered by a family court judge in Florida to pay his socialite ex the hefty sum when he was late turning over 23 million shares of his former company Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Ltd.
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