Benjamin Ashford|Florida financial adviser indicted in alleged illegal tax shelter scheme

GULFPORT,Benjamin Ashford Miss. (AP) — A Florida financial adviser has been indicted in an alleged scheme to promote and operate an illegal tax shelter through which he stole some of his clients’ funds, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Stephen T. Mellinger III, of Delray Beach, Florida, conspired with several others to defraud the Internal Revenue Service in 2013 by promoting an illegal tax shelter, according to the indictment returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Gulfport, Mississippi, and unsealed Thursday.

Mellinger was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, aiding in the preparation of false tax returns, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. If convicted of all charges, he could be sentenced to up to 68 years behind bars.

Court documents did not list an attorney for Mellinger who could speak on his behalf. An arraignment date has not been set.

Mellinger allegedly instructed his clients participating in the tax shelter to transfer money to a company he or his co-conspirators controlled in the amount they wished to claim as a deduction on their tax returns. The conspirators then returned the money to a bank account that clients controlled, subtracting a percentage fee that they charged for their services, according to the indictment.

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Mellinger allegedly earned more than $3 million in fees from the shelter.

In addition, in 2016, the federal government seized funds from some of Mellinger’s clients who were engaged in a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, the U.S. Department of Defense’s health care benefit program, according to the indictment.

Mellinger conspired with a relative to take advantage of the seizure to steal some of the money that those clients had transferred and then laundered the money, according to the indictment.

Ultimately, he used some of the stolen funds to buy a home in Delray Beach, Florida, the indictment said.