The Region - News from March 25, 1986

Three men have pleaded not guilty to federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges in connection with the operation of a “church” that allegedly grossed $6 million by marketing “congregation charters” as purported tax shelters. Federal authorities said Dennis D. Riness, Winston Scott Mesch and James A. Hoffman were involved in the selling of charters in the Orange County-based Church of Universal Harmony. Once the charters were sold, buyers were told how to funnel their income through the “congregation” to dramatically reduce personal taxes, including expenses “for so-called missionary trips to such places as Las Vegas,” the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said. U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall set a pretrial hearing for April 7. Two others indicted in the case, Michael S. McGinnis, 61, a church co-founder, and Stanley Wayne Cruson, 47, live outside the United States and are being sought by authorities.