Businessman Robert Kahre sentenced in tax fraud scheme

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 | 6:55 p.m.

Robert Kahre, owner of six construction-related businesses in Las Vegas, was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison today.

Kahre paid employees more than $100 million in cash wages as part of an elaborate scheme to defraud the IRS, said U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of Nevada.

His sister, Lori Kahre, was sentenced to six years in prison for her role in the conspiracy. Two others, including Kahre's girlfriend and his business consultant, are expected to be sentenced Wednesday, Bogden said.

After more than three hours in a sentencing hearing, visiting U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra of the District of Hawaii sentenced Robert Kahre to serve 15 years and 10 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Kahre was also ordered to pay more than $16 million to the IRS.

The judge ordered Kahre, who has been free on a personal recognizance bond since his arrest in 2005, be taken into custody by U.S. Marshals.

In August 2009, after a three-month trial, Robert and Lori Kahre were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the federal government to impede the IRS in its collection of income and employment taxes.

Robert Kahre was also convicted at the time of 49 counts of failure to collect or pay employment taxes, two counts of attempting to interfere with administering IRS laws, four counts of tax evasion and one count of wire fraud.

His sister was convicted to two counts of attempting to interfere with administering IRS laws, one count of making a false statement to a bank and seven counts of tax evasion.

Alexander C. Loglia, who served as Robert Kahre's business consultant, was convicted of filing a false income tax return and tax evasion.

Danille Cline, Robert Kahre's girlfriend, was convicted of attempts to interfere with administering IRS laws and wire fraud.

Between 1997 and 2003, Kahre owned and operated six construction businesses, including Wright Painting and Drywall, Production Plumbing, Production Air Conditioning, Production Electric, Union Pacific Construction and Sherman Tile and Marble. Through hundreds of employees at the businesses, Kahre and his sister used a payroll scheme to avoid paying taxes.

Discussion: 4 comments so far…

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By profg

Nov. 18, 2009

4:48 a.m.

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"a payroll scheme to avoid paying taxes"

Why don't you tell the whole story? Kahre paid his employees in U.S. LEGAL TENDER: gold and silver coins, minted by the U.S. MINT. The U.S. Mint stamps "$50" on a one-ounce gold coin -- that's its legal tender value under U.S. law. So if I want to pay my employee $150 per month IN GOLD COINS, U.S. law says my employee is supposed to pay taxes on $150 per month... IN FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES (those nearly-worthless pieces of paper with dead politicians printed on them).

If the IRS doesn't like the law, they should have it changed, not send people to prison for actually operating within the bounds of that law. So you didn't get taxes on ~$3000 per month in the example above? TOUGH. It's legal. But these power-mad thugs don't care.

End the Federal Reserve. Abolish the IRS. Restore FREEDOM to America.
By appalledinamerica

Nov. 18, 2009

10:06 a.m.

Suggest removal

Why don't you tell the whole story?

Thanks, Mary Manning for proving that you and the Las Vegas Sun are just puppets for the prosecution and PURVEYORS OF YELLOW JOURNALISM. To simplify a matter of such importance as "an elaborate scheme to defraud the IRS" sickens me beyond belief. A more balanced story appears in the Las Vegas Review Journal:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/M...
By usafvette

Nov. 21, 2009

5:04 p.m.

Suggest removal

Money must be backed by something, or it is worth nothing. When the dollar was established...it took $20 to buy one ounce of gold...today it takes approx. $1000 to buy one ounce of gold. Given this difference in value today...each dollar in your pocket is worth about 2 cents! If the average per capita income is $50,000...your money is actually only worth about $1000 in constitutional value. Pretty sad if you ask me...even sadder that they convicted this guy for NOTHING!
By bullwhip

Dec. 11, 2009

10:52 a.m.

Suggest removal

Actually, if you look at HJR 192 from June 1933, you will see the following - "All coins and currencies of the United Stated (including Federal Reserve notes and circulating notes of the Federal Reserve banks and national banking associations) heretofore or hereafter coined or issued, shall be legal tender for all debts, public and private, public charges, taxes, duties, and dues, except that gold coins, when below the standard weight and limit of tolerance provided by law for the single piece, shall be legal tender only at valuation in proportion to their actual weight."

So basically, when discharging debts using silver or gold coins, the actual value per weight of the coin is the correct value assigned to the transaction.