O.C. Tax Protester Pleads Not Guilty in Tax Case

A nationally known anti-tax crusader who ran for governor of California in 2002 was arrested Thursday in Huntington Beach by federal authorities and later charged with conspiring to avoid currency reporting requirements and filing a false claim for payroll taxes.

George Henry “Nick” Jesson, 54, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

He and his wife, Trina Thi Vu, face a July 25 trial in state court on six felony charges alleging they failed to pay state taxes on $3 million in income from 1997 to 1999.

Jesson was arrested Thursday at his company, No Time Delay Electronics, without incident, said Gary Tang, spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service criminal division in Los Angeles.

The indictment alleges that Jesson, of Fountain Valley, structured financial transactions to evade IRS currency reporting requirements. Federal law requires reports on all transactions that involve more than $10,000 in cash. Jesson allegedly failed to file reports on more than $920,000 from April 2000 to August 2004.

Jesson also is accused of filing a false federal employment tax form in May 2000, contending his business paid no wages in 1997. If convicted on the federal charges, Jesson could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $500,000.

Court documents in the state case alleged that the couple reported their taxable personal income as zero for 1997 through 1999. If convicted on the state charges, Jesson could face up to nine years in prison. His wife could face seven years. Each is free on $250,000 bail in that case.

Jesson has been involved with We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education, a tax-protesting group that bought a full-page ad in USA Today in 2001 to declare that the government did not have the authority to collect taxes from paychecks.