Marc Harris Convicted On 16 Counts Of Money Laundering And Tax Evasion

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

26 November 2003

A Florida jury on Monday found former offshore service provider and soi-disant financial whizzkid, Marc M. Harris guilty on 16 of the 30 counts of money laundering and tax evasion with which he was charged by the US authorities.

A former resident of both Panama and Nicaragua, Harris was expelled from the country by the Nicaraguan authorities in June to stand trial in connection with the tax evasion cases of father and son Freon (a banned refrigerant) smugglers, Tony and Joseph Vigna, and beauty aid suppliers, Moses and Frank Krieger. The men claimed that Harris had masterminded the schemes for which they were standing trial.

According to the KYC News service, the former financier was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the US (in connection with both cases), two counts of tax evasion with regard to the Vignas, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering related to the the Freon smugglers, and 13 counts of money laundering, also involving the Vignas.

Harris must wait until February 6 to be setenced, and faces 7 to 9 years in prison.

In his defense, he reportedly portrayed himself as an accountant who assisted small companies to legitimately minimise their tax liabilities through the use of foreign subsidiaries. He also argued that the schemes with which the IRS revealed he had defrauded the US government of somewhere in the region of $5.9 million in lost taxes, had been created by others.

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