Perhaps The Feds do not want to mess up their main case against Frankie & his Pirates...To go forward with the civil action would require calling the same people to court and would tip the opposition to the government's criminal case.
THE ARTICLE:
Back-tax lawsuit against Mirabilis quietly dismissed
The government has not dropped 4 other actions against the Orlando company.
Jim Leusner
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 27, 2007
A Justice Department lawsuit filed last month against embattled Mirabilis Ventures Inc. of Orlando seeking $1.6 million in back taxes was quietly dismissed last week.
In a one-paragraph "notice of voluntary dismissal," Justice Department tax attorney Philip Doyle offered no explanation for dropping the case. U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp in Orlando approved it June 20.
The lawsuit was one of five filed last month against the Orlando equity fund and four defunct payroll companies with ties to Mirabilis, founder and chief strategist Frank L. Amodeo and other related entities.
The suits sought up to $223 million in overdue employment, unemployment or corporate taxes dating back to 2001.
The Mirabilis suit sought corporate taxes, penalties and interest for the 2005 tax year through May 15.
After the suit was filed, Amodeo's attorney, Harrison "Butch" Slaughter of Orlando, insisted that Mirabilis paid the taxes and produced a canceled check, bank statements and receipts showing that nearly $1.1 million had been paid to the Internal Revenue Service through SunTrust bank in Orlando in September 2006.
"The taxes were paid, including the penalties," said Slaughter, who attributed the mistake to one government agency not sharing information with another.
Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller would not comment on the matter Tuesday.
No such dismissals were filed in the other four Justice Department suits in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale federal courts.
The lawsuits came while a federal grand jury, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Internal Revenue Service and FBI investigate Amodeo, Mirabilis and related companies on allegations of financial and tax irregularities, especially among payroll-outsourcing companies once controlled by Mirabilis, Amodeo or related firms.
Amodeo, 46, a Georgia bankruptcy lawyer disbarred in 1994 who later served two years in federal prison for defrauding a client, was the founder and chief strategist for Mirabilis.
The company once had interests in as many as 70 firms, before shutting down most of its operations and laying off scores of employees earlier this year -- while creditor lawsuits piled up against Mirabilis.
The grand jury, according to several witnesses, is investigating the disappearance of more than $100 million in payroll taxes collected from client companies and not paid to the government.
Jim Leusner can be reached at jleusner@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5411.
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