San Diego

A federal magistrate refused to set bail Wednesday for a former Internal Revenue Service agent who has been indicted on 200 counts of receiving bribes and of money laundering and tax evasion.

Robert A. Morales Sr., 62, of El Cajon told federal Magistrate Barry Moskowitz he would not flee before his trial, but Moskowitz was not swayed.

Morales and his son, Robert Morales Jr., 28, have been in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center since May 8, when the grand jury indictment was unsealed.

Moskowitz set bail at $600,000 for the younger Morales, who is charged with 189 counts. He specified that if relatives of Robert Morales Jr. can put up $400,000 in a property bond plus $200,000 in a corporate bond, the son could be released if he also agrees to wear an electronic monitoring device.

The elder Morales told the magistrate he had known he would be indicted since March, 1990, but that he did not flee.

“The collateral is insufficient for what I have in mind,” Moskowitz told Eugene Iredale, attorney for the senior Morales.

Iredale said he will seek to have the magistrate’s denial of bail reviewed by a higher court.

The former IRS agent is accused of accepting $400,000 in bribes from an Imperial County farmer to allow the farmer to avoid paying taxes.

A trial date of Sept. 30 has been set.