Three arrested in mail fraud tax scam

Three local women were arrested Monday and charged with conspiracy and

11 counts of mail fraud, said officials at the U.S. Attorney’s office in

Los Angeles.

Nora Moore, 53, of Huntington Beach and Lynne Meredith, 52 and Gayle

Bybee, 54, both of Sunset Beach were all allegedly associated with a tax

fraud group known as “We the People” and “Sovereignty Pure Trusts,” which

promoted bogus tax shelters that falsely promised to limit exposure to

federal income taxes.

Meredith was allegedly the owner and operator of the groups. She was

also charged with two counts of false representation of a social security

number, one count of passport fraud and five counts of failing to file a

tax return. Bybee and Moore were also each charged with three counts of

failing to file a tax return.

The indictment alleges that Meredith earned $6.2 million from 1994

through 1999 as a result of the tax scams.

Their arrests were the result of field work done by the Internal

Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation unit in conjunction with the

U.S. Justice Department’s Tax Division.

“Meredith misled numerous people into believing that the tax shelters

she was selling would legally keep them from having to pay income taxes,”

said Michael S. Kochmanski, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles

field office of IRS - Criminal Investigation. “Instead, many of these

people now find themselves owing back taxes, penalties and interest. The

public should be wary of anyone who says that they have a way to keep you

from having to pay income taxes.”

Meredith faces a maximum 30-year prison sentence while both Bybee and

Moore face maximum 13-year terms.