FTX Sam Bankman-Fried Ponzi Scheme

Report to Congress: Customer Outcomes in the Madoff Liquidation Proceeding The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Often called the “congressional watchdog,” GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. Friday, October 5, 2012 Subject: GAO Madoff report Dear Mr. Lehman, I know it’s been a while since we spoke, but I wanted to follow up with you and send a  copy of our recent report . I’d like to thank you again for the help you gave us. In this case, your assistance helped produce instant results – as a direct result of the conversations we had with private sector tax professionals, the IRS issued new guidance on treatment of clawbacks. We were prepared to recommend the agency do so, but when they saw what we were going to report, they immediately issued the guidance on their own. It doesn’t often happen that change comes so quickly, and this wouldn’t have been possible if you didn’t lend...

The Revenue Ruling 2009-9 and IRS Safe Harbor (Revenue Procedure 2009-20) In 2009, two important documents were issued by the IRS regarding the taxation of Ponzi schemes. In Rev. Rul. 2009-9 , the IRS clarified much of the previously unsettled law in this area. The Rev. Proc. 2009-20 applies to losses for which the discovery year is a taxable year beginning after December 31, 2007; it offers thousands of Ponzi scheme victims a badly needed uncomplicated shortcut to cash refunds from tax losses. These two IRS documents form a good package and were drafted in record time, for any government agency. However, it is important to remember that the IRS is not in business to give back money. The “safe harbor” needs to be studied carefully, because it could be extremely expensive form a tax standpoint. It might be a safe harbor, but the tax cost to dock your boat in this harbor could be very high. To provide a very simplistic example, assume that there are $30 billion of Ponzi scheme losses th...

Richard S. Lehman, J.D./LL.M, United States Tax Attorney With nearly 55 years as a tax lawyer in Florida, Lehman has built a tax law firm with a national reputation for being able to handle the toughest tax cases, structure the most sophisticated income tax and estate tax plans, and defend clients before the IRS. Graduate of Georgetown Law J.D. – Georgetown University Masters in Tax Law from New York University Law School Law Clerk to the Honorable William M. Fay – U.S. Tax Court in Washington D.C. Senior Attorney, Interpretive Division, Chief Counsel’s office, The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Mr. Lehman has had extensive experience with all areas of the Internal Revenue code that apply to American taxpayers and non-resident aliens and foreign corporations investing or conducting business in the United States, as well as U.S. citizens and domestic corporations investing abroad.  > View Full Attorney Profile. Richard S. Lehman, U.S. Tax Attorney Phone: 561-368-1113 www.LehmanTa...

 — Government Accountability Office (GAO) — • GAO: 80 pager; The Report to Congressional Requesters: Customer Outcomes in the Madoff Liquidation Proceedings. https://www.lehmantaxlaw.com/wp-content/media/pdfs/GAOHQ_AS_ISSUED.pdf ◦ Thank you letter to Richard S. Lehman, from Christopher H. Schmitt, Senior analyst, GAO:  https://www.lehmantaxlaw.com/report-to-congress-on-the-customer-outcomes-in-the-madoff-liquidation-proceeding/ — Informative Tax Law Videos & Presentation Slides — • VIDEO: Tax Refunds From Ponzi Scheme Losses: Tax refunds from Ponzi Scheme losses are extremely valuable.   https://www.lehmantaxlaw.com/tax-refunds-from-ponzi-scheme-losses/ Watch this 50-minute educational presentation and learn your legal rights: • VIDEO: Taxation Of Ponzi Clawbacks: Clawback in a Ponzi Scheme – Maximum Tax Recovery: Watch this 50-minute educational presentation and know your legal rights: The Ponzi Scheme Clawback.  https://www.lehmantaxlaw.com/taxation-of-...

There is no set of fixed rules that clearly define the taxpayer’s reasonable prospect of a recovery, that will result in a limitation of a taxpayer’s theft loss deduction in the year of discovery. However, it is possible to have a grasp of the concept by reviewing court statements defining the concept. We will also look at general principles that have emerged from the court cases and review two cases that could be said to represent the extreme ends of the spectrum of just what is a reasonable prospect of recovery.  Learn more read the full report.  REPORT NO. 2: Download 10 page pdf here  or read online here:  https://www.lehmantaxlaw.com/report2-ftx-ponzi/ Richard S. Lehman, U.S. Tax Attorney Phone: 561-368-1113 www.LehmanTaxLaw.com Located in the Dorot & Bensimon P.L. Domestic & International Tax Law Office 2000 Glades Road, Suite 312, Boca Raton, FL.  33431