Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer arrested over the death of George Floyd, was hit with nine counts of felony tax fraud on Wednesday:
DEVELOPING: Derek Chauvin—the former Minneapolis officer who held his knee on George Floyd's neck—has been charged with nine counts of felony tax fraud in Washington County, Minn. Story will be updated with more details shortly. https://t.co/bCFNmcQyht
— Tony Webster (@webster) July 22, 2020
His wife, Kellie, was charged as well:
Kellie Chauvin, the former officer's wife, has also been charged with tax fraud counts. She filed for divorce from Derek Chauvin in May, which is pending.
— Tony Webster (@webster) July 22, 2020
How many police TV shows warns against this?
Court filings say after tax fraud investigators executed search warrant at the Chauvins' home in June, Kellie called Derek in jail on a recorded line saying “Yeah well we don't want to get your dad involved because he will just be mad at me I mean us for not doing them for years”
— Tony Webster (@webster) July 22, 2020
This appears to be over the sales tax on a rather expensive car they bought in Minnesota but listed Florida as their official residence to avoid Minnesota’s sales taxes:
Criminal charges say the Chauvin couple bought a $100,000 BMW in Minnetonka in 2018, presented Florida driver's licenses, registered it in Florida, and paid Florida sales tax—but it had been serviced 11 times since then in MN and never in FL.
— Tony Webster (@webster) July 22, 2020
So is this a big deal or not?
There's been a few comments saying this isn't important as Chauvin faces murder charges. But it contributes to the discussion on the abysmally low percentage of Minneapolis officers who live here, taking money out of the city and giving it to the suburbs—or in this case, Florida.
— Tony Webster (@webster) July 22, 2020
And there’s this:
Keep in mind the reasons officers went to 38th and Chicago in the first place: a $20 bill. Black Americans continue to lose their lives over the smallest amounts, while both legal and illegal-but-rarely-caught siphoning of money from communities of color happens every single day.
— Tony Webster (@webster) July 22, 2020
More details here:
The story has been updated with additional details and includes a copy of the criminal complaint. https://t.co/bCFNmcQyht
— Tony Webster (@webster) July 22, 2020
***
