Page 38 - Florida Sentinel 4-23-21

National
Kimberly A. Potter, Former
Tax Attorney Facing Prison For Allegedly Helping Billionaires Robert Smith And
Officer Who Killed Daunte
Bob Brockman Dodge The IRS
Wright, Released On Bond
It’s a new legal develop- ment for private equity billion- aire Robert F. Smith and his onetime mentor Bob Brock- man, already accused of the biggest tax evasion in U. S. his- tory.
Yesterday, the U. S. Depart- ment of Justice announced the indictment of Carlos E. Kepke, a Houston tax attor- ney who prosecutors say con- spired with Smith to hide $225 million in untaxed capi- tal gains from the IRS between 1999 and 2014 — during the years when Smith was rapidly growing Vista Equity Partners. Prosecutors say that Smith paid Kepke $1 million since 2007 for his services, which
included assisting in the preparation of Smith’s false 2012-2014 tax returns and set- ting up offshore entities to aid in tax evasion.
Prosecutors allege Kepke created for Smith a limited li- ability company in Nevis called Flash Holdings, as well as an offshore trust based in Belize, called Excelsior Trust. Excelsior was set up to own Flash. Thus, when Smith’s portion of capital gains from Vista funds was deposited into accounts held in Flash’s name in Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands, the money could be routed to the offshore Excelsior trust, away from the eyes of the IRS.
Kimberly Potter, the ex- Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright, appeared at a court hearing last week after being charged with second-de- gree manslaughter.
Potter appeared via a virtual conference on Zoom and took issue with her first hearing being broadcast and photographed, a curious complaint given how often the lives of the people cops shoot and kill are interrogated extensively.
She is currently out on bail. Minnesota District Judge Paul R. Scoggin reminded her she is not allowed any access to firearms, ammunition or explo- sives. Her lawyer said she would appear in person for her next hearing in one month.
Wright’s family wanted Pot- ter to be charged with murder and said anything less would not suffice. The second-degree manslaughter charge carries a
KIMBERLY POTTER
max of 10 years in prison, but Minnesota sentencing guide- lines would make her time served closer to four years be- cause she doesn’t have a crimi- nal history, according to the Washington Post.
ROBERT SMITH
Simon & Schuster Will Not Publish
U. S. Police And Public Officials Donated To Kyle Rittenhouse, Data Breach Reveals
Book From Cop Involved In Breonna
A data breach at a Christian crowdfunding website has re- vealed that serving police offi- cers and public officials have donated money to fundraisers for accused vigilante murder- ers, far-right activists, and fel- low officers accused of shooting black Americans.
In many of these cases, the donations were attached to their official email addresses, raising questions about the use of public resources in support- ing such campaigns.
The breach, shared with journalists by transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets, revealed the details of some donors who had previ- ously attempted to conceal their identities using GiveSendGo’s anonymity fea- ture, but whose identifying de-
tions from public officials in- clude Kyle Rittenhouse, who stands accused of mur- dering two leftwing protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August. Rittenhouse trav- eled from neighboring Illinois to, by his own account, offer armed protection to busi- nesses during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake
Rittenhouse, who became a cause célèbre across conser- vative media throughout late 2020, and was even supported by then president Donald Trump, held a fundraiser on GiveSendGo billed as a contri- bution to his legal defense. Ac- cording to data from the site, he raised $586,940 between 27 August last year and 7 Jan- uary .
Taylor Shooting After Backlash
After it was announced that a tell-all book penned by one of the Louisville cops who par- ticipated in the no-knock raid that resulted in Breonna Taylor's death would be dis- tributed by Simon & Schuster, the company is now speaking out against the report.
The New York Post revealed Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly is penning “The Fight For Truth: The Inside Story Behind the Breonna Taylor Tragedy,” slated to hit bookshelves this fall. After swift online backlash and calls to boycott, the New York based publishing com- pany is now backing out of the deal. The book was to be pub-
SGT. JONATHAN MATTINGLY
lished by Post Hill Press, a dis- tribution client of S&S.
Kyle Rittenhouse in Waukegan, Illinois, on 30 Oc- tober 2020. Rittenhouse stands accused of murdering two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August.
tails the website preserved. The beneficiaries of dona-
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