Microstrategy Co-founder in legal trouble over tax evasion

Microstrategy co-founder Michael Saylor has been accused of evading tax, amounting to $25 million. In a filing by the Attorney General of Columbia District, Karl Racine, the co-founder, allegedly used the firm to evade the district taxes successfully.

The attorney general accused Saylor of providing deceitful information about his housing properties. The accused had earlier said he lives in Florida or Virginia. After several investigations, the attorney general said he discovered that Saylor owned numerous properties in DC. 

According to him, the Microstrategy CEO used Virginia or Florida as his residence because both places have low or no personal income tax. According to findings, some of the discovered properties of Saylor include a yacht on the Georgetown waterfront, a penthouse apartment near Georgetown, and several others.

Karl Racine backs allegations against Saylor with evidence

The attorney general attached several pieces of evidence in the filing to further justify the accusation. Some of the evidence are screenshots that reportedly conveyed several Facebook posts by Saylor with tags of Washington D.C. In one of the posts, Saylor allegedly called Washington D.C his home. 

Racine revealed that a former chief financial officer of Microstrategy had, in 2014, told Saylor that his decision to evade tax could plunge the company into issues. To allegedly cover up the crime, the Microstrategy CEO allegedly reduced his salary to $1. This, as reported, was done to avoid suspicion by law enforcement agencies. With this, Racine said Saylor continuously received “fringe benefits” with a “high cash value,” like the usage of the company jet.

The attorney also alleged that MicroStrategy  “had detailed information confirming that Saylor was, in fact, a D.C. resident” but decided to conceal the information. He noted, “with this lawsuit, we’re putting residents and employers on notice that if you enjoy all the benefits of living in our great city while refusing to pay your fair share in taxes, we will hold you accountable.”

A whistleblower exposed the alleged atrocities of Saylor. The attorney, while confirming this, says his office usually encourages whistleblowing to disclose tax fraud by rewarding them. With this, the court usually slams huge fines, bigger than the value of the taxes evaded to the offender.

According to Racine, his office banked on the information availed by the whistleblower to conduct its investigation. This, according to him, helped to discover that MicroStrategy submitted false W-2s with his Florida address.

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