FraudBaron.com

Subpoenaed to appear before federal officials April 14 were Drs. Burt McKeag, Walter Weaver, Michael Trierweiler, Michael Bianco and Young Sik “Chris” Johng.

Three others were also subpoenaed to appear April 14 at the Lincoln County Courthouse - Kathryn Snoozy, a nurse anthesthetist; Evan Geilenkirchen, a nurse anthesthetist; and Bob McChesney, a certified public accountant.

Federal officials subpoenaed the eight in an investigation of a California accountant, Lowell Baisden.

Baisden, a certified public accountant, set up dummy corporations in Nevada and Wyoming for doctors and other professionals in Nebraska and California, according to federal officials. Federal officials said Baisden began his scheme with his brother-in-law, Dr. Michael Koning, an anesthesiologist who used to practice at Great Plains Regional Medical Center.  Koning ran a corporation called Anesthesia Consultants of Nebraska and contracted to provide exclusive anesthesia services to GPRMC. Koning was the medical chief of staff of GPRMC in 2002 and introduced Baisden to others in North Platte.

Baisden’s scheme became common knowledge at GPRMC, according to a hospital source. While some doctors and others bought into the plan, most didn’t.

Numerous physicians and other employees doubted it was legal. Baisden reportedly funneled his clients’ personal income through the corporations to allegedly hide it from tax liability. The sham corporations then paid each client a small salary and the rest of their living expenses through corporate accounts.

Baisden’s clients paid him a monthly fee for the various transactions, and he prepared  both their corporate and individual tax returns.

The scheme, which is now being investigated by the Justice Department and the IRS, has allegedly been going on for at least seven years, since 1999.

One physician allegedly became upset when Koning approached a secretary at the hospital to get the address of a newly recruited doctor who had yet to move here just to pitch the scheme to him.

A lawsuit filed by Koning against his former employees says that in early 2003, Dr. Andrew Chontos, a former North Platte surgeon now living in South Dakota, called a criminal investigator with the IRS in Denver and accused Baisden and Koning of criminal wrongdoing.  Chontos then sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service and various physicians at GPRMC claiming that Koning was engaging in “illegal activity,” court records show.

Employees of Koning’s, anesthetists Burt McKeag and Ron Bourne, also phoned the IRS to report suspected criminal wrongdoing by Baisden and Koning, according to the records. Bob McChesney, a North Platte certified public accountant, sent a letter in January 2004 to the U.S. Postal Service and Dr. Michael Trierweiler along with other physicians accusing Baisden and Koning of illegal tax evasion schemes, court records show.

“The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against that type of scheme years ago,” McChesney said Oct. 10, 2006. “That letter was to terminate relationships due to the scheme.”

GPRMC terminated its contract with Koning, and many of Baisden’s clients ended their relationships with him, according to court records.

The U.S. Attorney’s office and the U.S. Treasury Department began to investigate. At  least four different IRS agents have been investigating since 2005.

IRS Agent Bruce Williams sent formal summonses to Trierweiler, Drs. Walter and Deb Weaver, Evan Geilenkirchen and Kathryn Snoozy requesting documents and testimony about their incomes for 2002 and 2003.

Williams said after delays caused by Baisden claiming hardships for the taxpayers, he was finally able to meet with Trierweiler, Snoozy and Geilenkirchen. He said he did not meet with the Weavers but that they sent documents to him.

Williams said Baisden has instructed his customers not to comply with the IRS requests. (Excerpt)