Many of the advisors who receive newsletters by the Asset Protection Society also receive newsletters from my company the Wealth Preservation Institute. I’ve been sending e-newsletters for years and in some of those newsletters I’ve had warnings to advisors to stay away from “asset protection scams” in the marketplace. I specifically discussed Bill Reed and warned readers to stay away from his way of doing asset protection planning.
The WPI is the only educational institute that offers a certification course on asset protection planning (Certified Asset Protection Planning). While I’ve had a lot of fun educating advisors through the CAPP™ as well as CWPP™ courses, I knew that more needed to be done to warn advisors and the public about what we believe is non-compliant asset protection planning.
In an effort to involve more advisors and help them learn about both good and “bad” or non-compliant asset protection planning, I decided last year to create the Asset Protection Society with a handful of other like-minded advisors.
As you may know, the goal of the APS is to “protect the public” and be an entity to fill the void that exists from Legal, Accounting, Financial, Mortgage etc, associations who have chosen not to step up and try to regulate the advice being given on the very important subject matter of Asset Protection. The APS hopes to set the standard of care for what is compliant or “good” asst protection planning and what is not.
Finally, for those who could not make the 1stAnnual APS Forum in Vegas this year, the reviews by attendees were unbelievable. We did video tape the Forum and the DVDs should be out shortly. If you have an interest in purchasing the DVDs, please contact Jason Ruggerio, JD, Executive Direct of the APS at Email Us“>Email Us.
By: Roccy DeFrancesco, JD, CWPP™, CAPP™, CMP™
For two years in my own non-APS newsletters I have been warning clients and advisors about Bill Reed. I have called for the Feds to shut him down, and they have refused.
Worse yet, the Feds have ignored his, Mr. Reed’s, efforts to shut down my website with a denial of service attack (yes, that’s right, Mr. Reed paid a programmer to try and crash my website because I informed people on my site to stay away from him and his non-compliant planning). This is even after the Federal Trade Commission gave me information about his crooked intent.
Even so, justice for everybody and vindication for my stance about Mr. Reed is finally accomplished. The Feds have finally shut him down
Here is the scoop:
Federal Court Permanently Bars Las Vegas Man From Promoting “Asset Protection” Scheme
WEBWIRE–Tuesday, October 16, 2007
WASHINGTON-A federal judge in St. Louis has permanently barred William S.Reed, the founder of a so-called “asset protection” business, from preparing fraudulent liens for customers and helping customers conceal their funds by having shell corporations own their bank accounts, the Justice Department announced today.
According to the government’s complaint, Reed operated the now-defunct Asset Protection Group Inc. (APGI), which helped customers place sham liens on their property to deceive creditors, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Reed and APGI also allegedly helped customers hide their income and assets by holding their money in bank accounts in the names of shell corporations.
The complaint provides examples of six sham liens totaling more than $2 million that Reed and APGI allegedly filed for customers who owed nearly $900,000 in federal taxes. According to the complaint, the IRS has discovered at least 75 APGI customers that have used nominee bank accounts to evade collection of federal taxes. A copy of the complaint is available by clicking here.
Since 2001 the Justice Department has obtained injunctions against more than 280 tax preparers and tax-fraud promoters. Information on those cases is available here. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found by clicking here.
Have a healthy and protected week…. and if you have time, call your representative and ask why he got a free pass at me when trying to crash my website.