Anti-tax activist files request for IRS to return property

Tuesday, March 18, 2003 | 9:13 a.m.

A local anti-tax activist has filed a request that the IRS return property seized from his office during the serving of a search warrant in February.

Irwin Schiff filed the motion in federal court Monday alleging that the IRS showed a "callous disregard" for his constitutional rights. Schiff is asking that items listed on a 25-page inventory be returned, including audiotapes, faxes, Rolodexes and files.

In February federal agents raided Schiff's East Sahara Avenue business, Freedom Books, but no criminal charges have been filed in connection with that search warrant.

Schiff is scheduled to be in court on Wednesday for a hearing on a motion filed by the Justice Department asking for a restraining order to stop Schiff from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme.

The motion asks that Schiff, 75, and his associates cease preparing federal tax returns and holding tax seminars, including one scheduled for March 29 at the San Remo.

The motion for a restraining order and an accompanying complaint for a permanent injunction allege that Schiff and his associates, Cynthia Neun and Lawrence N. Cohen, conduct seminars and sell audiotapes and other products designed to help customers evade federal taxes, primarily by filing income-tax returns falsely listing no income and no tax due.