Ethical/logistical dilemma

latetoschool
Wed, 02 Aug 2006 21:55:13 +0000

Zoosermom, I cannot contribute anything further to the excellent responses already here, except to really emphasize that operating outside of the law is a very, very bad idea, especially in today’s regulatory climate. Post 9/11, in an effort to track terrorist financing, all sorts of technology tools and information resources are in place at the IRS and other federal government agencies that are put into place specifically to alert law enforcement interests to anomolies and petty crime which could be linked in some way to terrorism and collateral crimes. The investigatory tools in place in federal government and in the legitimate financial market space today are extraordinary, and the smaller sums of money are of intense interest to those who actively search for indications of crime.

I’m sure this post reads unnecessarily alarmist, but, I cannot emphasize enough the critical importance of distancing oneself quickly from ANY financial arrangement that is anything less than 100% legal. I am also sure this business owner is a very nice, kind man - lots of nice, ethical, honest good people do things that they do not realize can be very detrimental - and sometimes they even do so on the advice of their CPAs or other financial counsel, these advisors being ethical and well meaning but uninformed. In this man’s case, he’s probably too busy keeping his customers happy and keeping the ice cream cold and doesn’t have time to worry about who is studying his financial activities. If it were my daughter? I’d advise ending the relationship immediately, and, I would pay the taxes owed NOW to the extent you can estimate them - I wouldn’t wait until the end of the year.