Roger Stone, wife agree to pay $2.1 million to settle IRS tax case, but where will the money come from?

By Dan Christensen, FloridaBulldog.org

Fort Lauderdale’s Roger Stone, longtime political ally of Donald Trump and a subject of last week’s January 6 committee hearing, has agreed to pay more than $2.1 million to settle the government’s tax case against him and his wife, Nydia.

The big question now: Where is Stone getting the money to pay off the IRS? Three years ago, after Stone claimed he was broke because of the Mueller investigation into alleged interference in the 2016 election, Money Inc. estimated Stone’s net worth at only $50,000.

The proposed settlement was approved at the highest levels of the Justice Department, as Stone is a subject in the department’s ongoing criminal investigation of sedition and conspiracy  stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol involving far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys with whom Stone has been linked publicly.

The settlement terms are spelled out in a motion agreed to by the Justice Department and filed with the court on Friday. The deal must still be approved by Fort Lauderdale U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II.

The Stones would pay $1,657,809 in unpaid income taxes, penalties and interest for the tax years 2007-2011, plus interest accruing since the lawsuit was filed in April 2021. Stone would pay an additional $453,499 in back taxes, penalties and interest for the tax year 2018.

STONES’ CONDO COULD BE SOLD

The settlement also calls for the assets of the Bertran Family Revocable Trust, in which Nydia Stone is the sole grantor and trustee and she and the couple’s two children are the beneficiaries, to be made available to satisfy additional judgments against Nydia Stone. That specifically includes all its interests in the couple’s Fort Lauderdale condominium on NE 18^th Avenue.

Broward property records show that Nydia Stone and the trust paid $525,000 for the residence on March 27, 2019.

The government agreed to drop its claims against Drake Ventures, a Delaware company co-owned equally by the Stones, after alleging the couple used the company “as their alter ego to shield their assets” and “fund a lavish lifestyle.”

The IRS has been chasing the Stones for 15 years, finally suing to collect last year. Justice’s tax division subpoenaed and obtained records from the couple’s accountant. Stone, however, had resisted turning over the financial records he keeps.

Florida Bulldog reported late last month that the government’s push to obtain records directly from Stone strongly suggests it thinks Stone provided false information to the accountant. If so, that would be a crime.

Roger Stone’s attitude about continuing to fight the IRS changed abruptly last month after Judge Ruiz ordered him and Nydia to produce their documents and also provide better answers to government interrogatories. That’s when Stone’s attorney, Brian R. Harris of Tampa, filed court papers declaring the couple had submitted a settlement offer.

On Tuesday, the January 6 Committee presented new information about Roger Stone’s ties to far-right groups, including a tape recording of Stone reciting the Proud Boy’s “Fraternity Creed.” Rep. Jamie Raskin, who co-chaired the public hearing, said that was Stone’s “first level of initiation” into the group. 

In the video, Stone says, “Hi, I’m Roger Stone. I’m a Western chauvinist, and I refuse to apologize for the creation of the modern world.” 

In taped testimony, witness Kellye SoRelle, a Texas lawyer for the Trump campaign who also works with the Oath Keepers, said Stone, Info War’s Alex Jones, and pro-Trump organizer Ali Alexander, led the planning for Trump’s Stop the Steal rally in Washington.