Akers v. Scofield
| Decision Date | 20 September 1947 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 190. |
| Citation | 73 F. Supp. 553 |
| Parties | AKERS et ux v. SCOFIELD. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas |
Schlesinger & Goodstein, of San Antonio, Tex., and Robert Ash, of Washington, D. C., for plaintiffs.
J. M. Burnett, U. S. Atty., of San Antonio, Tex., for defendant.
This is a suit for refund of income taxes paid by plaintiffs.
The sole question here presented is whether money received by a self-confessed swindler from his victim, an eighty-two year old widow, is income to him and taxable as such.
The facts were stipulated and are found to be as follows:
I. Plaintiffs, James A. Akers and Lela Akers, his wife, reside in Bexar County, Texas.
II. Defendant, Frank Scofield, is the Collector of Internal Revenue for the First District of Texas, with his office in Austin, Texas, and has at all times germane to this action acted in his official capacity as such Collector, and is the Collector to whom the tax for which this suit is brought was paid.
III. On January 22, 1940, an indictment was returned by the Grand Jury of the Austin Division of this District charging in the First Count thereof that on or about March 15, 1934, James A. Akers unlawfully and wilfully attempted to evade income tax in the amount of $1,354.90 on account of net taxable income in the amount of $18,135 received by him during the calendar year 1933. The Fourth Count of said indictment charged that on or about March 15, 1937, the defendant unlawfully and wilfully attempted to evade income tax in the amount of $572.05 on account of the net taxable income in the amount of $18,615.54 received by him during the calendar year 1936. The Second and Third Counts of said indictment charged similar violations for evading income taxes based upon net taxable income received by him during the calendar years 1934 and 1935, respectively. On January 31, 1940, the defendant entered his plea of guilty to the First and Fourth Counts of said indictment, whereupon the Second and Third Counts were dismissed.
On January 31, 1940, the court sentenced the defendant as follows: On the First Count: $10,000 fine, for the payment of which the defendant stood committed, and two years in an institution of the penitentiary type; on the Fourth Count: $5,000 fine and two years in an institution of the penitentiary type, the sentence under the Fourth Count to run consecutively with that imposed under the First Count. The entire sentence under the Fourth Count was suspended for two years on the condition that the defendant not attempt to transfer title of any of his property until his tax liability with the Government was settled, and that he make a full, fair disclosure of his affairs and assets to the Internal Revenue Agents.
IV. The instant action is one for the recovery of income taxes paid for the years 1932, 1933 and 1936 in the following amounts:
1932 ........................ $ 540.66
1933 ........................ 571.67
1936 ........................ 1400.53
________
Total ................. $2512.86
The following schedule sets out the date the Commissioner of Internal Revenue assessed income taxes, the amounts of same, the date and amounts paid on the taxes so assessed:
Date Taxable Amount Amount Date
Taxpayer Assessed Period Assessed Paid Paid
J. A. Akers 1-24-41 1932 $1378.68 $540.66 2-5-41
and wife P 344.68
P 344.67
I 645.84
J. A. Akers 1-24-41 1933 745.32 171.67 10-24-41
and wife P 186.34 200.00 12-8-41
P 186.33 200.00 1-12-42
I 304.43
J. A. Akers 1-24-41 1936 473.65 13.38 5-9-41
P 236.83 200.00 6-9-41
I 108.20 200.00 7-8-41
200.00 8-7-41
200.00 9-12-41
5.30 10-24-41
I 23.03 23.03 10-24-41
Mrs. J. A. 1-24-41 1936 473.65 200.00 3-11-41
Akers I 108.20 200.00 4-8-41
181.85 5-9-41
I 4.77 4.77 5-9-41
James A. Akers and wife, Mrs. James A. Akers, filed separate, individual income tax returns for the calendar year 1936, each reporting net community income in the amount of $2,365.54 and no tax due. No returns were filed by either James A. Akers or his wife for the years 1932 to 1935, inclusive. On or about December 6, 1940, James A. Akers and wife, acting by and through John Edward Doyle, Attorney in Fact, executed waivers of restrictions on assessment and collection of deficiency in the tax for 1932, 1933 and 1936, respectively. Certified photostatic copies of said waivers were introduced upon the trial of this cause.
On February 4, 1943, claims for refunds were filed for the following years in the amounts designated:
Claimant Year Refund Claimed Amount
James A. Akers & wife, Lela
Akers 1932 $540.66
James A. Akers & wife, Lela
Akers 1933 571.67
James A. Akers 1936 818.68
Mrs. James A. (Lela) Akers 1936 581.85
On September 16, 1943, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue duly rejected said claims and notified such claimants of the action by letter of the same date. Certified photostatic copies of the claims for refund and letters of rejection were introduced upon the trial hereof.
The instant action was instituted on August 24, 1943, prior to the rejection of said claims.
V. The taxes were assessed on money received by J. A. Akers in the following manner:
(a) Mrs. Dora Roberts was and is a very wealthy widow now over 82 years of age. For many years she has owned a ranch in the southeast part of Howard County, Texas, consisting of approximately 36 sections. During the year 1929 H. L. Forrest was on her ranch discussing oil leases with her, during which time she mentioned to him that for many years she had heard there was gold buried on her ranch near a hill called Signal Hill. In 1932 Forrest approached one H. E. Ferguson (the brother of Forrest's wife) and attempted to persuade him to join him in obtaining money from Mrs. Roberts by pretending that they could buy maps, drawings, or waybills in Mexico disclosing the location of buried treasure on the ranch. Ferguson refused to enter into such arrangements.
(b) During the latter part of 1932 Forrest and Akers contacted Mrs. Roberts on her ranch and Forrest introduced J. A. Akers as J. B. Bryant, under which latter name Mrs. Roberts knew him throughout the following transactions. Forrest represented to Mrs. Roberts that Akers (Bryant) had connections in Mexico with people who were in possession of maps which would indicate the exact location of buried treasure on her ranch. Akers and Forrest induced Mrs. Roberts to advance $1600 for the purpose of enabling Akers to go to Mexico and seek to purchase the maps, although at that time they well knew that no such maps were in existence, and that no treasure was buried on the Roberts ranch, and they made the representation solely for the purpose of inducing Mrs. Roberts to part with the said moneys. On or about September 15, 1932, Akers and Forrest returned and represented to Mrs. Roberts that Akers had successfully procured one of the maps. Armed with the map, Akers, Forrest, Mrs. Roberts and her son-in-law, W. G. Garrett, proceeded to the ranch where Akers, after referring to the map, directed the party to a designated spot where they dug up a quantity of metal bars which resembled gold. The bars were taken to the home of Mrs. Roberts in Big Spring, Texas, for safekeeping and it was agreed that she and Akers were to share equally in the proceeds of the sale of all treasure found and which was to be found as a result of information obtained by Akers. It was further agreed that Mrs. Roberts was to bear all expenses in connection with procuring such information, including paying for any maps which were to be procured by Akers or Forrest.
(c) Akers then represented to Mrs. Roberts that he could secure another map disclosing the location of other buried treasure and Mrs. Roberts agreed to purchase the same. Akers left and later returned to Big Spring on or about September 30, 1932, and proceeded to the home of Mrs. Roberts. Akers represented to Mrs. Roberts that he had secured the map at a cost of $4000, which amount Mrs. Roberts delivered to him. On or about October 1, 1932, Mrs. Roberts, Garrett, Akers and Forrest returned to Mrs. Roberts' ranch and under the direction of Akers, proceeded to a point near Signal Hill where a quantity of metal bars was unearthed. These bars, as before, were taken to Mrs. Roberts' house in Big Spring and concealed in a closet. Shortly thereafter Akers represented to Mrs. Roberts that he could secure another map in Mexico, which map Mrs. Roberts agreed to purchase. Akers then left and returned to Big Spring on or about October 19, 1932, told Mrs. Roberts that he had procured the map at a cost of $8000, whereupon he received such sum from her. The party again proceeded to...
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