UPDATE 1-19-2015
Chris Rusch contacted me and indicated that he has had nothing to do with Premier Offshore since 2013. He tells me he no longer has associations with Live and Invest Overseas or International Living. Here is what he sent me:
"Since my arrest, I've been working as a website designer and author. I designed sections of the Premier website and wrote a few articles for them.
I've also designed several other websites and have written for 15 other publishers.
I am now a staff writer with an expat online magazine. It's a start-up and not associated with Live and Invest Overseas nor International Living.
My company is Aviara SEO and my website is: http://aviaraseo.com/
So, while my case may be fair game, I respectfully request you leave others out of it. The companies you mention, Live and Invest Overseas, International Living, and Premier Offshore had nothing to do with the Kerr/Quiel case and don't deserve to be linked with that mess.
In fact, the events that brought on the charges happened years before I ever met any of these companies and my association with each has long since ended.
So yes, Rusch is Reeves, but Premier Investor is something he claims he is no longer associated with. Below this article has been edited to include the information Mr. Rusch was kind enough to provide."
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A fan of our blog emailed us a little bit ago to inform us that the disbarred Chris Rusch, star witness for the government against former clients that he advised, has changed his name to "Christian Reeves" and is now operating a new company. In support of this assertion, I was forwarded an "about us" page at Rusch's old allegedly new venture, PremierOffshore:
"My name is Christian Reeves – a perpetual traveler, U.S. attorney, and international entrepreneur. I have lived and worked in a number of countries throughout the Americas and Asia and started successful business ventures in five of them. I frequently write and speak on a variety of life, business and taxation topics, such as moving your business abroad, living the good life abroad, maximizing freedom by building a “portable” business, liberating yourself and your assets, and networking with new cultures and communities for business and personal expansion (a fancy way to say fitting you and your business in to a new community).
I am the author of the Premier Offshore Tax and Business Guide, 2013 Edition, and have published a wide variety of articles on doing business and enjoying life abroad.
I hold a degree in law (Juris Doctorate or JD) with an emphasis in international taxation from the United States, and also earned a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with a focus on economics. I practiced tax law for 12 years, and, after hundreds of battles with the IRS, I am currently a “rehabilitated” lawyer."
Rusch has been out of prison since October 29, 2014. He is now on supervised release. Generally, that means no leaving the country — sometimes ever. However, I have learned that the federal court has granted his unopposed motion to travel to Mexico, to see his daughter, and anywhere else internationally, if he has a business reason for doing so (this is incredibly curious — unopposed? Does the US government want him overseas meeting with expats? Why? Is he an active government informant?).
My opinion: The strange thing about Chris Rusch — I don't think he intended to assist anyone in tax evasion — which makes what he did worse
Chris Rusch testified against clients that he advised on how to structure their offshore affairs. Through knowledge I have obtained from other past clients of Chris Rusch, and examining other documents he prepared, my belief is that Rusch actually did not intend to violate US tax and banking laws. I conclude rather, that he was so far out of his element when it came to matters of international taxation (which by the way, is the most difficult thing in the world to do right), made huge mistakes, and instead of admitting these gross errors to the IRS, he quickly folded and invented false motives when he was confronted by the government investigators.
In the Quiel & Kerr cases, there was likely no crime committed! By either Rusch or either defendant. The defendants had no intent to commit tax evasion and Rusch had little incentive to assist anyone in committing tax evasion (I am told he stands to inherit a large fortune). My belief is that Rusch got bad advice himself or weak knees after the government opened their investigation against him. Or I suppose it is possible that the government could have lied and said the defendants would testify against Rusch in order to coerce a false confession out of Rusch (my hunch is this is the most likely scenario). But if Rusch was able to stand his ground when the IRS and DOJ came knocking, explaining the errors he made and further explaining that his clients made no attempt to evade taxes — both Quiel & Kerr have legitimate business reasons for locating offshore — this entire litigation would have been avoided.
But…the Government is interested in convictions and press releases.
The Chris Rusch case is an excellent example of how the federal tax crimes are prosecuted. There is limited interested in "justice." But rather, the focus is on getting a conviction, independent of whether a crime actually occurred. Because the Department of Justice only has room for 3000 tax indictments a year, they must rule by fear and intimidation. Intimidation means being able to procure convictions at an alarming success rate.
A critical component for a tax prosecution case, where there is a taxpayer who can afford to defend themselves, is an insider, you own adviser perhaps, who will testify to whatever the government wants to hear regardless of motive or how the testimony is procured.
So "minnows" in tax non-compliance and those who have made "soft-disclosures" beware. You are easy targets. There is a huge likelihood that your advisers who told you not to comply will testify against you and give the government the exact testimony they want for the press release they need.
Note: This is a controversial article, based on public records and private sources. If there are facts left out or incorrect, please email info@irsmedic.com for updates.
