Myrtle Beach man named in federal complaint alleging $2 billion in tax fraud
The federal government is attempting to crack down on a controversial tax practice, and it’s targeting a Myrtle Beach man in a complaint alleging more than $2 billion in fraudulent deductions.
Ralph Teal Jr., of Myrtle Beach, and EcoVest Capital Inc., a company with Teal on its board, are among six defendants named in a complaint filed Dec. 18 by the Department of Justice in the Northern District of Georgia seeking an order to stop them “from organizing, promoting, or selling an allegedly abusive conservation easement syndication tax scheme,” according to a DOJ press release.
S.C. State Director for The Nature Conservancy Mark Robertson explained that conservation easements are permanent agreements by a landowner to preserve land in its natural habitat, such as farmland or forest. In exchange for landowners giving up future development rights, they can receive tax deductions typically equal to the difference between the value of the property before and after the restrictions are imposed.
The DOJ alleges in its 80-page complaint that Teal and his associates have illegally taken advantage of conservation easements through an elaborate, “highly structured” 11-step process that generally involves creating a limited liability company to take control of a property, having an appraiser come in and grossly overvalue the property, recruiting customers to buy in as partners, finalizing the conservation easement and then distributing the subsequent tax deductions to its customers.
Read more: https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/article223634420.html
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