http://russocomm.com/blog Ruminations, observations and outright opinions from the banks of Eagle Creek Tue, 09 Jun 2026 21:30:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 http://russocomm.com/blog/?p=18#comment-672 srusso Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:37:56 +0000 http://russocomm.com/blog/?p=18#comment-672 Tom, thanks for the comment. I'm aware of the possible scenario you've outlined and know that some people really don't know where their money goes - with Bernie Madoff being the poster child of this cause. My post is more to the "perception" of Helio's dilemma by casual racing fans and how this negatively impacts the IRL image. As I'm no legal or financial expert, my over-simplification was one of public opinion versus the detailed account you've provided. I personally hope you and Helio are right and he'll be exonerated. But much of the public will only remember that he was charged. Tom, thanks for the comment. I’m aware of the possible scenario you’ve outlined and know that some people really don’t know where their money goes - with Bernie Madoff being the poster child of this cause. My post is more to the “perception” of Helio’s dilemma by casual racing fans and how this negatively impacts the IRL image. As I’m no legal or financial expert, my over-simplification was one of public opinion versus the detailed account you’ve provided. I personally hope you and Helio are right and he’ll be exonerated. But much of the public will only remember that he was charged.

]]> http://russocomm.com/blog/?p=18#comment-671 Tom Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:08:59 +0000 http://russocomm.com/blog/?p=18#comment-671 You've oversimplified the tax evasion case against Helio Castroneves. He never claimed that he didn't know his Penske Racing pay was going into off-shore accounts. That payment setup in itself is not illegal. In some cases these accounts are tax deferred, so the income does not need to be reported. (Here the devil is in the details, or more precisely many pages of tax code fine print.) Helio claims that he has relied on his attorney and other tax experts in setting up these accounts and in filing his taxes. The trial hinges on when he and the others knew the correct tax status of the money sent to the accounts. The prosectution claims this was a conspiracy. Helio and company claim they didn't know the accounts weren't set up correctly for the money to be tax deferred. You’ve oversimplified the tax evasion case against Helio Castroneves. He never claimed that he didn’t know his Penske Racing pay was going into off-shore accounts. That payment setup in itself is not illegal. In some cases these accounts are tax deferred, so the income does not need to be reported. (Here the devil is in the details, or more precisely many pages of tax code fine print.) Helio claims that he has relied on his attorney and other tax experts in setting up these accounts and in filing his taxes. The trial hinges on when he and the others knew the correct tax status of the money sent to the accounts. The prosectution claims this was a conspiracy. Helio and company claim they didn’t know the accounts weren’t set up correctly for the money to be tax deferred.

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