Financial Guru Charged With Tax Fraud
Thursday December 1, 11:13 pm ET
Asset Protection Guru Wade Cook, Wife Charged With Tax Fraud in Federal Court Near Seattle
SEATTLE (AP) -- A financial guru whose own business went bust was charged along with his wife Thursday with eight counts of tax fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
Federal prosecutors accuse Wade B. Cook, 56, and his wife Laura of concealing nearly $8.9 million in seminar fees and book royalties from 1998 to 2000.
Wade Cook conducted hundreds of the seminars on asset protection, stock investing, real estate acquisition and avoidance of income tax, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. His books include "Wall Street Money Machine," "Wealth 101" and "Business by the Bible."
In tax returns filed for 1998, 1999 and 2000, the couple reported adjusted gross incomes of about $350,000 annually while concealing the additional millions, prosecutors contend.
According to court papers, the Cooks created a phony tax-exempt entity that purportedly was to benefit the Mormon Church but did not. In fact, documents said, the Cooks were concealing royalty income they spent on such things as show horses, his-and-hers Cadillacs and a $20,000 baby grand piano for an associate.
They also used the money to make "imprudent business loans to prop up struggling business ventures into which Wade B. Cook had already poured large sums of money," the documents said.
A call for comment to Cook's lawyer was not immediately returned late Thursday. The Cooks' telephone number in Fall City, about 25 miles east of Seattle, is not listed.
Cook, a former cab driver, shut down his operations in February 2003, a month after his company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Creditors alleged the company made dubious loans to executives and failed to pay for employees' health-insurance coverage.
Thursday December 1, 11:13 pm ET
Asset Protection Guru Wade Cook, Wife Charged With Tax Fraud in Federal Court Near Seattle
SEATTLE (AP) -- A financial guru whose own business went bust was charged along with his wife Thursday with eight counts of tax fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
Federal prosecutors accuse Wade B. Cook, 56, and his wife Laura of concealing nearly $8.9 million in seminar fees and book royalties from 1998 to 2000.
Wade Cook conducted hundreds of the seminars on asset protection, stock investing, real estate acquisition and avoidance of income tax, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. His books include "Wall Street Money Machine," "Wealth 101" and "Business by the Bible."
In tax returns filed for 1998, 1999 and 2000, the couple reported adjusted gross incomes of about $350,000 annually while concealing the additional millions, prosecutors contend.
According to court papers, the Cooks created a phony tax-exempt entity that purportedly was to benefit the Mormon Church but did not. In fact, documents said, the Cooks were concealing royalty income they spent on such things as show horses, his-and-hers Cadillacs and a $20,000 baby grand piano for an associate.
They also used the money to make "imprudent business loans to prop up struggling business ventures into which Wade B. Cook had already poured large sums of money," the documents said.
A call for comment to Cook's lawyer was not immediately returned late Thursday. The Cooks' telephone number in Fall City, about 25 miles east of Seattle, is not listed.
Cook, a former cab driver, shut down his operations in February 2003, a month after his company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Creditors alleged the company made dubious loans to executives and failed to pay for employees' health-insurance coverage.
