Millionaire Avoids Prison on Tax Rap, Must Help Homeless

A federal judge today spared millionaire industrialist Victor Posner a prison term but made him personally responsible for a program to help the homeless of South Florida at a cost of $3 million and to pay $4 million in back taxes and fines.

Posner, 69, faced up to 40 years in prison after pleading no contest to evading more than $1.2 million in federal taxes by inflating the value of land he donated to a Bible college as a tax exemption.

Posner’s attorney, Edward Bennett Williams, told U.S. District Judge Eugene Spellman, “This is the only case in the 75-year history of the graduated income tax law in which a taxpayer has been charged in a criminal matter (only) with overstating the value of a charitable gift.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Neil Cartusciello disagreed, saying: “Posner lied to the Internal Revenue Service and he corrupted others. He doesn’t show he’s remorseful, that he’s sorry. The honest taxpayers end up paying a disproportionate burden.”